£130m rise in payments to medical professionals

Doctors, community pharmacists and other medical personnel received £644 million in payments last year for services provided to holders of medical cards and participants in other community drug schemes.

This was £130 million more than in 1999. Payments to medical professionals this year are expected to top £750 million, according to figures issued by the General Medical Services (Payments) Board.

Its annual report shows that community pharmacists were paid £267 million, doctors received £131 million, dentists earned £30 million and ophthalmologists/opticians received nearly £7 million.

Almost 300 doctors earned more than £120,000, with nine earning more than £200,000. Some 436 doctors earned between £80,000 and £120,000 while 432 earned between £40,000 and £80,000 in fees.

Fifteen community pharmacists received more than £120,000 in dispensing fees under the GMS scheme. The majority of pharmacists (606) earned up to £40,000 while 367 pharmacists received between £40,000 and £80,000.

Ten dentists earned more than £140,000 while the majority, 575, received up to £40,000 under the Dental Treatment Scheme.

By the end of last year some 2.17 million people were eligible to benefit under the GMS and other schemes. Of that number, 1.148 million were holders of medical cards.

Medicines acting on the nervous system were prescribed five million times and cost £53 million, while cardiovascular system or heart-related medicines cost £57 million.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Union said in reaction to the report that the net year-on-year increase in pharmacists' income was significantly less than indicated in the report.

It was not the case that pharmacists' fees and mark-up payments had increased from £80 million in 1999 to £103 million in 2000. It was not accurate to compare the two figures, because the Drugs Payment Scheme started only in July 1999, an IPU spokesman said.