HSE pays full cost of blood tests for doctors

THE Health Service Executive is spending hundreds of millions of euro every year testing blood samples for GPs who make no financial contribution towards the service but who still charge patients for the tests.

And while GPs don’t pay the HSE anything for blood testing, the HSE provides all equipment doctors require for blood-sampling, and doctors are not charged.

The HSE has confirmed the total cost of hospital laboratory services, including to GPs, was €370 million in 2008 — about 16 times the budget of a small hospital for a whole year.