Ghostly care puts State in worse health

YET another good reason for overhauling the shambles of Ireland’s health system is the news that family doctors received an astonishing bonus of €20m for treating “ghost” patients.

Revealed at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee by the Comptroller and Auditor General, John Purcell, the existence of an army of phantom patients is further evidence the public is being ripped off because of Government failure to police the medical card scheme.

The discrepancy, involving some 25,000 patients who do not exist, became apparent after medical cards were extended to the over-70s.