The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) intends to launch its next strategic plan in early 2026, the Medical Independent has learned.
The NTPF executive and board are currently working on the plan for 2026-2029, according to a spokesperson.
The Fund hopes to publish the document in the first quarter of next year.
The current strategic plan runs to the end of 2025. It set out five goals in line with the organisation’s remit of arranging treatment for patients, collating waiting list data and negotiating prices for nursing home care.
The budget for the NTPF in 2025 was €230 million, which is an increase compared to previous years.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the NTPF confirmed that the organisation does not collect data regarding patients who have been removed from a waiting list and are subsequently re-referred for care by themselves or their GP.
In 2023, almost 130,000 patients were removed from waiting lists for treatment as part of NTPF validation processes.
According to the spokesperson: “Validation is a process whereby patients on waiting lists are contacted to confirm if they are ready, willing, and available to proceed with hospital care. The NTPF sends letters to patients, on behalf of hospitals, asking if they still require an appointment.”
They added that the process provides an opportunity to update patient records if changes have occurred and helps to reduce “did-not-attends” and patient cancellations.
When a patient receives a letter asking whether they still require an appointment for care they have two weeks to issue a response. If no response is received a reminder is issued and they have another two weeks to reply. If no response is received the patient is then removed from the waiting list.
The spokesperson added that: “The removal correspondence must be sent by the hospital to the patient or guardian, GP and / or source of referral. Removal correspondence must include the date and reason for removal from the waiting list and details of the reinstatement process and relevant contact details. Patients identified as urgent and/or high clinical and/or social needs should be brought to the attention of the consultant and should only be removed under clinical guidance.”
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