Martin urged to stop releasing details of doctors’ pay to thwart criminals
Doctors’ safety had been jeopardised by the release of practice and payments details under the medical card scheme, the IMO said.
A Wexford-based general practitioner says he and his family were forced to endure a violent robbery in their home because the department had published his earnings. Doctor to the Wexford hurling team, Stephen Bowe, said it was wrong for the department to publish doctors’ names, addresses and earnings.
He was attacked by four men wearing balaclavas and armed with baseball bats when he returned to his home after midnight on Thursday after responding to an emergency call-out. The told him they knew he had “loads of money”.
Dr Bowe, 53, said one of the men attacked him with a baseball bat, forced him through the back door of the house, gagged him and knocked out one of his front teeth. They tied the doctor and his wife up, dragged two of their children from their beds and took them downstairs. A third child slept through the ordeal.
“The only logical conclusion I can come to is that the publication of my name and address and earnings in the press set me up as an easy target for criminal gangs,” he said. According to a list compiled by the South Eastern Health Board, Dr Bowe was paid almost €400,000 last year under the General Medical Service payment scheme.
IMO chief Dr Martin Daly said the IMO would be raising this matter with Mr Martin.
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