University Hospital Kerry has been accused of not co-operating with the National Treatment Purchase Fund over patient treatments.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Deputy Brendan Griffin said he'd received information to suggest that this alleged lack of co-operation had resulted in delays for patients awaiting endoscopies.
It's claimed this relates to patients at UHK who are due to undergo the procedure at another hospital under the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The Fine Gael TD for Kerry put his concerns to the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar.
The Tánaiste said he didn't know the details in relation to UHK but that it would be a shame if the NTPF wasn't being used.
University Hospital Kerry says, with the support of the South South West Hospital Group, it's been working to manage the effect of COVID-19 on the waiting list for routine endoscopy cases.
It says all options to address the waiting list continue to be explored including providing out of hours capacity and funding under the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
