Monday 30th March 2015. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has strongly rejected suggestions that GPs are incorrectly claiming fees for patients who are deceased. Weekend newspaper reports suggest that some politicians are blaming GPs for receiving payments for patients who are deceased.

Speaking today, Dr. Ray Walley, Chairman of the GP Committee of the IMO criticised the reports as "misleading in the extreme".

He said; "GPs don't ‘claim’ payments for medical card patients. They receive payments based on lists, which the HSE is charged with maintaining.

As the HSE is responsible for the maintenance of the national register of deaths (along with births and marriages) in the country, it is extraordinary that they now seem to suggest that GPs know more about this issue than they do themselves as the legal authority on the matter."

Dr Walley also stated that there are "persistent and ongoing problems" with PCRS (Primary Care Reimbursement Service) medical card listings and in fact many GPs struggle on a monthly basis to get paid for their patients from PCRS.

He said: "Despite the fact that the HSE operates the register of deaths, more than 50% of notifications to the HSE involving deceased patients came from GPs themselves.

In light of the persistent failure of the HSE to maintain accurate lists, GPs agreed to refund payments made in respect of deceased patients. In this way GPs actually help the State recover money that its inefficient systems have given away."