To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department will consider permitting Health and Social Care Trusts to pay the Northern Ireland-equivalent cost of treatment directly under the Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme, so that patients only need to cover any additional charges.

The Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme is a patient led Scheme based on the previous RoI Reimbursement Scheme and EU Cross Border Healthcare Directive.

In choosing to arrange healthcare themselves, the patient is effectively stepping outside of the HSC system entirely. At this point, the patient is taking individual responsibility for ensuring that the service they obtain is appropriate and safe within the laws of ROI or EU (not under UK legislation). The Department of Health, under this scheme, will not be formally commissioning services from private providers abroad and therefore will not be liable for the outcome of the treatment provided. The HSC Trusts are not involved with this process and on that basis this is not something my Department will be considering.