Inquiry into “ghost” medical card patients

HEALTH board bosses will shortly appear before the public finance watchdog to explain the €20 million medical card system blunder.

The treatment of around 30,000 “ghost patients”, who had died, moved away or entered long-stay care, cost the taxpayer €20 million in payments to family doctors.

The inquiry will be the first of a series of examinations into health sector spendingby thepowerful Dáil Public Accounts Committee.

Duplicate entries in health board and general medical card lists, and the health boards’ failure to remove the names of people who had died or moved, are blamed for the miscalculation.

The chief executives of the country’s 11 health boards will appear before the PAC in 10 days’ time to go through the details of the medical card scandal, committee chairman John Perry confirmed.

Over the following months they will also bequizzed on their annual budgets.

The secretary-general of the Department of Health will also be questioned about the huge risk being taken by the State in providing indemnity cover for consultants, while the financial situation of the Blood Transfusion Service Board will also be examined.

Spending on the health service will hit 11 billion this year, yet demands for resources continue. According to Mr Perry, public servants need to be accountable for the vast sums spent bypublic bodies.

“It would be my intention to hold the CEOs accountable for their budgets and their administration of resources in their health board area.

“There is no point in coming out with a global attack. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, but people in positions of high responsibility need to take the heat as well,” he said.

The number of ghost patients differs considerably depending on the health board area.

There are almost 7,000 cases in the Western Health Board, compared with 1,800 in the North Western Health Board and 2,000 in the Midlands Health Board.

Officials are currently analysing how long doctors were claiming for invalid medical cards.

This is provingdifficult, as theyneed information which is detailed enough to withstand a potential legal challenge.

Doctors are threatening to go on strike and withdraw from the medical card scheme if the Department of Health forces them to refund the €20 million.

The cost of the medical card scheme in general has soared following a government decision in advance of last year’s election to offer medical cards to all over-70s.

The Department of Health believed the change would cost an extra €19m annually, butby April the cost had spiralled to €51m a year.