National Treatment Purchase Fund - Patient Charter

Introduction
The Health Strategy - Quality and Fairness - a Health system for you places a new focus on waiting times, and outlines the need for immediate action. One of the actions for dealing with the waiting list issue was the establishment of the National Treatment Purchase Fund. The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was established by Government, in 2002, to treat public patients who have been longest on public surgical in-patient waiting lists. It became a statutory body from 1 May, 2004.

The current remit of the Fund is to focus on public patients waiting longest for surgical procedures on public hospital waiting lists and to purchase operations for them primarily in the private hospital system both in Ireland and abroad where necessary. New initiatives recently announced are the Patient Treatment Register - the national waiting list database, and the Out-Patient Pilot Programme.

The work of the NTPF is patient-centred with the aim of taking public patients who have waited the longest off waiting lists by providing them treatment and care of a high standard.

Mission Statement
In keeping with the Government's Health Strategy, the mission of the National Treatment Purchase Fund is to reduce the length of time patients are on hospital waiting lists by offering choice in obtaining access to treatment promptly, safely and to a high standard of patient satisfaction. The NTPF will fulfill this mission by:

o Putting patient needs first
o Assuring quality of patient care
o Measuring results and performance
o Operating a reliable Patient Treatment Register as a basis for quantifying waiting times
o Maintaining cooperative relationships with hospitals, consultants and out-patients
o Operating efficiently
o Obtaining value for money

Commitment to Patients
We are committed to

o Providing an ethical and confidential service
o Delivering a high quality service with efficiency and with a minimum of delay
o Establishing excellent working relationships with our patients
o Ensuring that patients priorities are paramount when delivering our service to them

Service Standards
We have set the following service standards

o All patients are treated with respect and courtesy
o Telephone calls to our lo call number will be answered promptly
o Members of staff answering the telephone will identify themselves and their office
o If our staff cannot answer your query immediately, they will take your details and let you know when you can expect to hear from us
o The NTPF Lo-Call line is open 24 hours a day. It is staffed from 9am to 5pm Mon- Fri and records messages outside of these times. Messages will be returned within 24 hours or on the next business day.
o Our correspondence will be in clear language that is understandable and concise
o We will respond to incoming letters, from patients or their representatives within seven working days
o Patients will be kept up to date on their case progress
o All patient information is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 & 2003

Equality/Diversity
We are committed to providing a service which complies with the principles laid out in equality legislation.

Physical Access
Although our work does not require patients to travel to our offices, they are kept clean, safe and accessible to patients with disabilities.

Information
Our staff is committed to providing correct and clear information to patients at all times. You can access our patient information leaflet on our website which gives all the information on our services and what you can expect as a patient. This is also available from our lo-call number 1890 720 820

Patient Information Leaflet

If we are unable to provide the information requested a reason will be given.

Timeliness and courtesy
Staff will endeavor to deal with all patient queries promptly, courteously, efficiently. We will act with integrity, impartiality and fairness at all times.

Feedback
Hearing your views is very important to us. We routinely issue feedback questionnaires to all patients who have been treated. These are continuously monitored and reflected in our ongoing endeavor to improve our service delivery with you the patient as our focus.
Please let us know if you are particularly pleased with any aspect of our service.

Complaints
We strive to deal with all complaints at the point of service. If you are unhappy for any reason with the standard of service received and feel that you are unable to resolve the matter with the staff member concerned you can contact us in writing at the address below. All complaints will be dealt with promptly, fairly and impartially.

Name
National Treatment Purchase Fund
Ashford House
Tara Street
Dublin 2

If you are not satisfied with the treatment of your complaint it is open to you to contact the office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman provides an impartial, independent & free dispute resolution service.
Contact details are as follows:

   Office of the Ombudsman
   18 Lower Leeson Street
   Dublin 2
   
   Tel:Lo-call 1890 22 30 30
   Tel:01 639 5600
   Fax:01 639 5674
   Email:ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie
   www.ombudsman.ie