Waiting list money-back scheme expanded to all EU treatments

The scheme is now open to people waiting one year on an NHS waiting list

A waiting list reimbursement scheme is being expanded to allow people to claim back costs for treatments in EU countries.

From 15 September, patients waiting longer than one year for hospital treatment will be able to "reclaim the cost of approved procedures".

Phase One of the scheme was launched in June but was limited to "eligible treatments" in the Republic of Ireland.

The scheme had also been limited to patients who had been on an NHS waiting list for two years or more, but has now been reduced to one year.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said he promised the scheme "would be extended to cover the wider EU" when it was first launched.

"By reducing the qualifying period from two years to one year, and by widening access to the EU, I am giving more patients more options to get the treatment they need.

"This scheme is about listening to patients, being flexible, and taking practical action to ease pressure on waiting lists.

"Above all, it is about giving people quicker access to treatment, and the reassurance that they will be reimbursed up to the equivalent health and social care cost."

Seven-year wait for knee surgery

Siobhan Edgar said she was originally told she would be waiting 15 months for surgery

Siobhan Edgar underwent knee replacement surgery in January 2024 after spending more than seven years on a waiting list.

The health worker from County Armagh said she could have paid to go private, but felt it would have been "creating a two-tier system".

Siobhan said she was originally told she would be waiting 15 months for surgery.

"By 2022 it was really painful, I couldn't work, it was affecting every aspect of my life.

"I couldn't go up and down stairs, it was giving way all the time, I had several falls."

Siobhan said had the Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme been available, she would "have had to consider the cost implications".

"Not only would I have been paying for the knee, I would have to pay for somebody to come with me and their accommodation and their costs in order to help me back again," she said.

Siobhan said while her knee is much better, she believes the long wait for surgery resulted in a poorer outcome.

"I think the recovery would have been quicker, because the surgery would have been quicker," she said.

'Health inequalities'

The head of the Northern Ireland branch of Versus Arthritis welcomed the expansion of the scheme but warned it "adds further layers to Northern Ireland's deepening health inequalities".

In a statement, Sara Graham claimed that "behind these long waits are devastating stories of people with arthritis putting their lives on hold as they wait for life changing surgery".

She added: "It's time we see a clear plan for how orthopaedic waiting times will be realistically and sustainably reduced."