This article is from page 4 of the 2008-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Shannondoc out-of-hours GP service suffered a slight financial loss for the second year in succession, ac- cording to its latest figures.
In accounts lodged to the Compa- nies Office, Shannondoc reported a loss of €40,000 to the end of 2006 and this follows an operating loss of €45,000 in 2005.
Asked if there were any concerns over the operating loss, manager of Shannondoc, Larry Maher replied, “No, not at all.”
The accounts show that in 2006,
Shannondoc handled 86,932 calls – an increase of 9,722 or 12.6 per cent over 2005. The Killaloe area showed the highest increase at over 30 per cent, while triage nurses dealt with over 20,000 calls as nurses advise without the need to refer the call on to a doctor.
“Given that Shannondoc provides out-of-hours cover for 274,000 peo- ple, the call rate per 1,000 population per week is up from 5.71 to 6.1 calls per 1,000 population per week.
“People don’t realise the scale of the operation. It provides a very com- prehensive service, but it must be re-
membered that it is a family doctor service, not an emergency service,” Mr Maher emphasised.
The accounts show that Shannon- doc had a turnover of €5.08 million in 2006 — an increase of €300,000 on the turnover for 2005.
However, administration expenses for 2006 amounted to €5.12 million and this resulted in an operating loss of €40,000.
However, Shannondoc’s overall fi- nancial state remains healthy with an accumulated surplus of €100,000 at the end of 2006, while the co-op’s net funds stood at €499,000.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) contributed €3.8 million — up €300,000 on the 2005 contribution.
Prior to this year, doctors paid €10,000 each to fund the service but, this year, the rate decreased to around €6,000 per doctor.
In 2006, Shannondoc received €1 million in doctors’ contributions.
The service is also a major con- tributor to the regional economy, with salary costs coming in at €3.2 million.
The accounts show that Shannon- doc employs 38 drivers, 53 medical staff and 35 administrative workers.