€167k on sex-swop operations abroad

THE HSE spent more than €165,000 last year sending patients abroad f or sexchange operations.

Gender reassignment surgery i s not performed here but patients may go for such operations overseas under the HSE’s treatment abroad scheme.

Last year, up to four patients availed of the treatment at a total cost of €166,543.

According to the HSE, the average cost of an assessment and the associated surgery is around €30,200. The cost of female-to-male operations is considerably higher than maleto-female procedures.

More than 50 public patients have now undergone sex-change surgery under the treatment abroad scheme. Five patients travelled abroad for the treatment in 2013, while 12 availed of the scheme the year before.

The HSE said the number of requests for the surgery each year would not support a specialised service here.

It said: ‘Clinical decision-making determines whether someone is put forward for this procedure under the treatment abroad scheme.

‘Each patient who availed of the treatment did so by way of clinical referral from their treating physician in Ireland.

‘The scheme allows an Irishbased consultant to refer a patient who is normally resident in Ireland for treatment [which is] unavailable in Ireland and proven medical treatment.’