Eastern region doctors paid for treating 12,419 ‘ghost patients’

DOCTORS in the eastern region were paid for treating 12,419 dead patients because health boards failed to remove names of the deceased from medical card holder lists.

Figures obtained yesterday from the General Medical Services Payments Board show the highest number of overpayments occurred within Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA), followed by the Southern Health Board, where doctors were paid for treating 3,446 ‘ghost patients’ between February 2002 and June 2003.

In the Western Health Board, doctors were paid for treating 2,641 ‘ghost patients’ during the same period.