A CANCER patient who was treated abroad received more than €15,000 in medical costs and backdated illness benefit after the Ombudsman intervened in a dispute between the patient and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The woman, who had come to Ireland to work from another EU country, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December 2006, according to a report on the incident published by Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly yesterday.
Her consultant at the Mater university hospital recommended she be treated in her home country because she would get the significant after-care and support she needed from family and friends.
However, in her home country, the woman was told that she needed an E112 form from Ireland to allow her to receive State-funded hospital treatment. She had not been told about the form before she left Ireland and, when she applied to the HSE for the form, her request was refused.
In discussions with the Ombudsman, the HSE said the woman’s application had failed because she could have got the same treatment in Ireland.
However, after the Ombudsman’s intervention, the HSE subsequently paid medical bills of €8,543, while the Department of Social and Family Affairs awarded her backdated illness benefit totalling more than €7,000.
A separate report from the Ombudsman detailed the circumstances in which an organic farmer received some €4,500 from the Department of Agriculture after her complaint was pursued by Ms O’Reilly’s office.
The Laois farmer complained about penalties imposed on her by the department for breaching the terms of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (Reps).
The breach centred on the removal of her organic grower’s licence. Without the licence, the woman could not comply with her Reps plan and so the department retained her Reps payments.
The woman argued that illness had prevented her from keeping her organic records up to date and that was why she had lost the licence.
“As the illness had been medically certified, I decided that the breach had been due to circumstances out of her control and that she deserved some sympathy,” Ms O’Reilly said.
The Department eventually reviewed the case and the complainant got a Reps refund of € 4,528.
