Waiting for your Health.

Do you know someone who is on a long surgical waiting list, suffering in distress and discomfort for months even years waiting for news of a date for a public hospital appointment?

Private healthcare or paying directly for procedures without any insurance can be extremely expensive. The recent RTE Primtime investigation showed that our private healthcare industry uses our public hospitals more than we perhaps expect. When coupled with insufficient public hospital funding it is further delaying procedures for those unable to pay for treatment.

For those on public waiting lists there might be a quicker route for certain procedures but you need to act quickly since Brexit threatens to reduce our options.

Our Story

A relative desperately needed a hip replacement procedure having been on the waiting list for over a year and facing another year to gain even a first consultation appointment. Now housebound and in constant pain we decided to see if we could afford to fund the procedure privately.

Contacting a private hospitals in Belfast we discovered a relatively unknown reimbursement scheme called the Cross Border Directive. Since 2011 it has allowed European residents to travel abroad to other European State hospitals for many 'standard' procedures which although available here might have much shorter waiting times privately. You will need to pay for the treatment yourself but you could reclaim on average 97% back within a few weeks.

In our example a hip replacement procedure in a private hospital in the Republic. costs between €15 and €25k whereas The Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast were quoting €11k and at only 90 min drive it was a viable option. We were prepared to use a credit card but we were also advised that temporary loans could be obtained through Banks and Credit Union's with supporting letters of assistance from the CBD Office. Although the scheme does not cover hotels or travel costs it might cover your circumstances so it's worth making inquiries.

The process we experienced:

Far from complicated:

Researched the scheme online at http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/cbd/ There is a good FAQ section and they are very helpful on the phone.
Obtained a referral letter from the GP.
‎Obtained a quote from the private hospital.
‎Submit the CBD application form and gain written acceptance in principal to the procedure and refund scheme.
Within 2 weeks attended a consultation visit at the private hospital with xrays taken to established that the procedure was necessary.
4 weeks later the procedure was carried out and we made full payment the week before.
3 nights recovery in the 1st class private hospital provided excellent post op facilities with highly attentive staff. On departure the hospital admin staff helped fill out the forms with receipts to send off.
6 weeks later we attended a final check up

Refunds take 6 to 8 weeks from submission with the final cost to us being approx €150, with 2 coffee receipts as proof of travel and 6 return trips (€150 fuel) to Belfast since it didn't suit for us to stay nearby overnight.

Do your own research.

Cross Border Directive

Private Hospitals in the Republic

Private Hospitals and Clinics (some might be covered)

Kingsbridge Private Hospital Belfast

Media Coverage

The Irish Independent newspaper has reported the subject over the past few months and our story is quite similar to those featured in one of the articles. We were surprised the GP had not referred our relative to the scheme months ago and we would never have discovered the scheme had we not started contacting hospitals abroad.