Four Mayo GPs on State's 100 top-earning list
A SEANAD bye-election candidate and a GAA medic are among four Mayo doctors who feature on a list of the State’s 100 top-earning GPs under the medical card scheme, The Connaught Telegraph can reveal.
The four Mayo-based GP practices shared payments of almost €1.8 million from the Health Service Executive (HSE) last year for their participation in the medical card and General Medical Services schemes.
The highest-earning GP in the county was Belmullet-based Dr. Keith Swanick, who represented Fianna Fáil as a candidate in last weekend’s Seanad bye-election.
His practice on Church Road in Belmullet received a total of €468,785 in payments under the scheme last year, making him the 30th on the list of the State’s highest-paid GPs. Dr. Swanick, a native of Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, established his medical practice in Belmullet in 2007.
The next-highest earning GP in the county was Dr. Seán Moffatt in Ballina, who is the team doctor for the Mayo senior football team and holds the position of medical director with Mayo GAA.
He is 35th of the list of the country’s highest-paid GPs, having received capitation fees and other payments of €461,696 in 2014. His cousin, former Crossmolina and Mayo footballer Liam Moffatt, was appointed as lead physiotherapist by the Mayo GAA County Board last November.
Dr. Michael Brendan Molloy, whose GP practice is based on Quay Street in Belmullet, earned a total of €442,183 through the scheme last year, ranking him 42nd in the top 100.
Knock-based Dr. Diarmuid Murray was the last Mayo GP to make the list of top-earners, receiving capitation fees and grants of €396,981 during 2014.
Nationally, the 100 top-earning GPs shared a total of €49.8 million paid through the schemes last year. Excluding corporate out-of-hours services, the highest-paid medic was Dr. Austin O’Carroll in Dublin, who earned a total of €757,613.
The figures were released by the HSE under the Freedom of Information Acts.
Under the General Medical Services contract, participating GPs receive a range of fees and allowances in respect of each medical card and GP-visit card patient on their list.
Annual capitation payments are made to GPs regardless of whether or how often a patient visits their doctor during the year. Other grants are paid in respect of practice expenses, study and annual leave.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has previously pointed out that payments listed are gross and do not reflect overheads such as staff costs, including the payment of other GPs in the same practice.