This article is from page 30 of the 2009-11-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
GENERAL practitioners in Clare had a bonanza last year with total payments to the county’s doctors exceeding €11 million for the first mb eaten
According to figures exclusively re- vealed to The Clare People under the Freedom of Information Act, total payments to the 41 doctors partici- pating in the scheme increased by 8 per cent on the 2007figures.
Dr Michael Kelleher’s practice in Lahinch was the top Clare earner with €379,094 in fees and €85,137
in practice support.
Three practices received over €350,000 – Dr Martin Fitzgerald who received a total of €384,077; Dr Jocelyn Ellis who received a total of €366,215 and Dr William O’Connell who received €351,602.
The figures — supplied by the HSE’s Primary Care Reimbursement Board — show that a further seven doctors received between €300,000 and €350,000. They are Dr Eugene Casey who received €346,843; Dr Patrick Bugler received €344,024; Dr Colm Hackett received €341,740; Dr Fer- gus Glynn received €321,/67, Dr
Anthony Cox received €320,968; Dr Blathneid Regan received €318,145 and Dr John O’Donnell received Sel OlsMeb ee
Eight doctors received total fees between €300,000 and €250,000 – Dr Conor Hanrahan who received €296,396; Dr Mary E O’ Sullivan re- ceived €294,311; Dr Michael Harty who received €289,177, Dr Manus Maguire who received €280,800; Dr Conor Fanning who received €272,650; Dr Raymond O’Connor who received €270,202; Dr Eoin Curtin received €269,274 and Dr Eric Carr who received €252,830.
A further 13 doctors received payments between €200,000 and €250,000, while a further 10 doctors received payments of €100,000 and €200,000 with six doctors receiving less than €100,000.
The fees set out in the HSE report are global figures and practice ex- penses have to be deducted from the amounts concerned. They reflect the cost of the provision of comprehen- SUAIoM od ISHN Um ov u-KeL NI M(ONS) MENTO MIA Leo MO LELI do not represent income for individ- ual doctors.
The practice support grants made available to doctors contribute to
the cost of the provision of practice nurses and secretaries.
They do not cover the provision of premises or other bills such as heat, light or insurance.
However, the figures do not include any payments made to GPs in respect of treating private patients.
Just over one quarter of citizens are covered by the medical card, about half are covered by private medical insurance and one quarter have no Oo
The cost of each new medical card issued by the HSE in 2008 was €1,650.