TWO GENERAL practices in Dublin received more than €840,000 in fees, allowances and support grants for operating the general medical services (GMS) scheme last year.
The figures – released by the HSE yesterday – show that the practice of Dr Andrew Jordan in Tallaght received a total of €846,517.
The practice of Dr Catherine Coleman in Dublin city centre received €843,294. in fees, allowances and practice supports.
The practice of Dr Michael Casey in Galway received just over €750,000 in payments.
Fourteen general practices received more than €600,000 in payments under the scheme in 2010.
At the same time, more than 40 general practices received less than €2,000 in fees, allowances and practice supports under the GMS scheme last year.
The 2,250 general practices operating the scheme shared €453.5 million in payments last year.
The Department of Health has forecast that GPs will this year receive nearly €424 million between them for operating the GMS scheme.
However the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which represents GPs, has consistently argued that the official payment figures do not relate to the income of individual doctors.
The IMO has argued that practice expenses – which, it maintains, run to 40 to 60 per cent of gross turnover – have to be deducted from the total amounts. It also contends that in the case of the higher-earning practices, the money may have to be shared among a number of GPs.
The level of payments to practices at the top end is lower than in previous years – in 2008 one practice received more than €1 million in l payments for the first time – reflecting cuts introduced by the Government over the last year or so.
The Government has used financial emergency legislation to put in place four separate rounds of cuts to fees paid to GPs since the start of 2009.
Doctors’ representatives have argued that these measures have resulted in a fall in income of over €76 million.
However senior Department of Health officials have told Minister for Health James Reilly in briefing material that despite the cuts in payments to individual doctors, the amount paid by the HSE to GPs collectively has actually increased.
This is mainly because of the ongoing increase in the number of people covered by medical cards.
A review of the fee cuts put in place under the financial emergency legislation is currently under way.
However it is not expected that this will lead to a reversal of the cuts.
The review is required under the provisions of the financial emergency legislation.
The Department of Health has argued that it does not accept the contention of the IMO that GPs are public servants and that under the Croke Park agreement there is a bar on the Minister reducing their fees.
GPs operating the GMS scheme are not HSE employees but are independent contractors.