An elderly woman referred to a private Dublin hospital for surgery under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was told yesterday she could not have her operation at the hospital because funding had not been provided for it by the NTPF.
The woman had been waiting for her operation since last February and was referred to the Blackrock Clinic by the fund in August.
Labour health spokeswoman Liz McManus said that when the woman arrived for an appointment yesterday, "she was informed by the hospital consultant that he had been instructed by the hospital management that the operation could not take place because the budget had not been agreed with the NTPF".
"I understand that a number of private hospitals have now ceased taking patients referred to them by the NTPF because of the failure to agree on budgets," she said. "It seems to reflect an extraordinary lack of planning."
In a statement last night, the purchase fund said there was no need for any NTPF patient scheduled for an operation to have it cancelled or delayed.
"We are continuing to work towards the target of treating 16,000 patients this year. Our goal that no public patient should be waiting over three months for an operation remains unchanged," it said.
To date this year it has treated 12,000 patients.