Those eligible for the scheme will be able to access a health and social care online information hub giving guidance to patients on how to apply, eligibility criteria and access to the application form.
A previous scheme – the Republic of Ireland Reimbursement Scheme (RoIRS) – was introduced in June 2021 and ran for 15 months until funding was exhausted.
A total of 3,275 patients benefited at a cost of £21.45m, with patients able to seek, and pay for, routinely commissioned treatment in the private sector in the Republic and have the cost reimbursed.
The new reimbursement scheme was included in a plan outlining how £215m was to be used to tackle Northern Ireland’s spiralling hospital waiting lists.
Of that, there will be £85m for red flag and critical care, £80m for building up capacity within the system, and up to £50m to start tackling the backlog in care.
The plan is to clear the four-year waits for more than 3,000 patients on lists for hip, knee, hernia and colonoscopy procedures.
There will be mega clinics for an estimated 20,000 patients waiting for ophthalmology, orthopaedics, general surgery and ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations.
Waiting lists for gynae mesh, children’s squints, children’s feeding tubes and cleft lip will also be tackled.
The department said there will also be a boost in the number of urology specialist nurses and an expansion of rapid diagnosis centres for quicker detection of pancreatic cancer.
