HSE pays €50m to 100 GP practices around Ireland

Twenty GP practices received payments in excess of €500,000 from the HSE last year for their participation in free primary healthcare schemes.

In total, the State’s 100 top-earning GP practices shared gross payments of almost €50m from the HSE during 2014, according to the latest figures.

The list is topped by three GP co-operatives, which each received payments of more than €1m under the medical card and General Medical Services schemes last year.

Excluding co-operatives, the highest-earning individually named GP was Austin O’Carroll, who was paid €757,613 in fees and allowances by the HSE. He is one of around nine doctors working in his Dublin practice.

The highest recipient in 2014 was Care Doc, an out-of-hours doctor service operating in Carlow and Kilkenny. It was paid €2,570,768 by the HSE under the free healthcare schemes. Care Doc is the business name of Carlow Emergency Doctors on Call Ltd, which reported a total income of €14,786,196 in the most recent accounts filed to the Companies Office.

The next highest beneficiary under the schemes was North Doc Medical Services, which provides an out-of-hours service for patients in north Dublin. It received €1,624,066 from the HSE and reported total income of €2,978,163 last year. North East Doctor on Call Ltd was third on the list of top-earning practices, receiving €1,282,922 from the HSE for participating in the schemes.

Kildare and West Wicklow Doctors on Call was paid €994,068 by the HSE last year, and reported total income of €3,947,167 in its accounts for the same period.

The figures were released by the HSE this week in response to a parliamentary question.

The Irish Medical Organisation has previously pointed out that payments listed are gross figures and do not reflect overheads such as employee costs and the payment of other GPs in the same practice.