# General state of health care in Spain



## expatlora1 (Jul 30, 2014)

Hi Guys,
We are wondering what the general state of health care is like in Spain. Does it make a difference where you live or is it pretty much the same no matter where you live?Are there good private or government hospitals? Is there a good private medical insurance company which comes highly recommended? 

In Portugal for example, they are still trying to figure out how to treat foreigners under the current health care system which a lot of us have found confusing to use. If you have your EU Insurance card, then they do treat you accordingly and your EU insurance pays for it. 

Would you say it is easier to have personal medical/health insurance than deal with the red tape of the system in place -- if it is complicated? Thanks!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

The public healthcare in Andalucia is second to none. We have cancelled our private insurance.
On Wednesday I phoned our village surgery for an appointment at 11.45. At 12.10 I was with the doctor.
We are both currently receiving treatment at the CdS Hospital, Marbella. First class.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

expatlora1 said:


> Hi Guys,
> We are wondering what the general state of health care is like in Spain. Does it make a difference where you live or is it pretty much the same no matter where you live?Are there good private or government hospitals? Is there a good private medical insurance company which comes highly recommended?
> 
> In Portugal for example, they are still trying to figure out how to treat foreigners under the current health care system which a lot of us have found confusing to use. If you have your EU Insurance card, then they do treat you accordingly and your EU insurance pays for it.
> ...


In Spain, citizens of other EU countries who wish to register as residents in Spain (which they are required to do within 90 days) must provide proof of adequate health cover, either by means of an employment contract which means they will be paying social security contributions and therefore covered under the state health system, or private health insurance from a Spanish company with no co-payments involved.

The EHIC card is only supposed to be used by visitors, not by people who are resident here.

British citizens who are receiving a State Pension can apply for an S1 form from the DWP which means that the UK Government will pay for their healthcare from the Spanish state health system. In the case of a married couple where only one is a pensioner, the spouse can also be covered as their dependent. We have just gone through this process when my husband became a pensioner late last year, and would not say it was overly complicated although it did take almost two months to complete. We had to take our S1 forms to our nearest INSS (Social Security office) to be registered, wait for them to send us a certificate confirming our entitlement to state healthcare, then take that to our local health centre where they registered us with a doctor and then wait for our health entitlement cards to arrive through the post which took another 3 weeks. 

I can't comment on the quality of the state healthcare because we haven't needed to use it as yet. When we do, we will need to present our health cards to access any treatment (appointments can be made online) and the cards also carry all the information regarding prescriptions. Everyone has to pay a percentage of the costs of their prescriptions here, even pensioners, but for pensioners with an income below €18,000 these costs are capped at €8 per month.

We have had private medical insurance for the past 6 years and have kept it on for the present as we find it reasonably priced (currrently pay €115 per month for the two of us, aged 65 and 58. The care we've received has been very good, but apart from one minor operation involving a one night hospital stay, a few GP visits and an annual Well Woman-type checkup for me, we've not needed to use it all that much.

Most comments I hear from friends and acquaintances about the Spanish state healthcare system are very positive, although there are often reports in the press these days about longer hospital waiting lists, people waiting on trolleys in A&E and strikes by staff protesting about cuts and staff shortages.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

We haven't actually moved over yet, but healthcare is obviously high on the research list....

...from what I've been led to believe the health service in Andalucia is very good, and many speak English, but obviously not all.

We would need private care, and I have also been led to believe that this is also very good. But that you do have to be a bit more wary of the actual location coverage that some companies provide...ie distances to certain services that are available to you. Obviously this will be dependant on area, and company.

Admittedly that's not from an actual personal experience, because we have not actually moved over there, but it seems the opinion we have gained through our research....that generally the services on offer, private, or state run, are very good.


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## angkag (Oct 29, 2013)

We have Sanitas, and the negative is that we have to go quite a few miles (5 or so) up the road to get to their allowable health centres. 

The positive is that it includes a private hospital which is about 5 miles away, and the two times we have had to use emergency (kids accidents, one requiring a cast and one requiring stitches), there were no queues and the treatment was immediate. We had an issue in Hong Kong where even though the treatment was generally very good, the emergency departments in hospitals were almost always very busy and you could sit in emergency depts for quite a long time, even with something quite serious (one of the kids had a brain bleed and the longest part of the process was getting through emergency - but as soon as they knew what it was, it actually took less time between diagnosis and brain surgery than it did getting through emergency to a diagnosis ! Full recovery by the way). 

In follow-up appointments in the hospital here in Spain the various departments seem to be much, much busier and a lot more people. But each time we have been on time for the appointments and got called in at the exact time of the appointments. This was another frustration in HK where every time we had an appointment, the scheduled time seemed to be irrelevant and the wait could be up to an hour after arrival.

So, so far, so good here. But we don't know what it would be like in a serious emergency like the brain op needed in HK (which is probably about as serious as it gets as an extended delay would result in blood spilling into the brain tissue and subsequent long term damage - the speed at which they operated at in HK avoided long term damage, and we sometimes wonder how it would have gone if we had been living somewhere else at the time).


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

The healthcare in our region (Valencia) is, like Mary says, second to none.


Having said that, when I went to our town hospital (first mistake, should have gone to Xativa), I was made to wait over 4 hours in A&E. I had slipped another disc and couldn't sit. After 2 hours of standing up I insisted on a bed to lie on. After much grumbling the staff obliged.

Once the doctors knew the pain I was in, they were brilliant insisting that I was moved out of any draughts and keeping me updated on progress.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> The public healthcare in Andalucia is second to none. We have cancelled our private insurance.
> On Wednesday I phoned our village surgery for an appointment at 11.45. At 12.10 I was with the doctor.
> We are both currently receiving treatment at the CdS Hospital, Marbella. First class.


A lot better than that appalling GP in Alora who was in the Sur a couple of weeks ago. An old man collapsed in the street not far from his surgery, had previous history of heart problems. He refused too go to see him, said he was with a Patient, which was a lie. He even refused again when the 061 service asked him to attend. So this man died after lying on the floor for 45 mins.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Isobella said:


> A lot better than that appalling GP in Alora who was in the Sur a couple of weeks ago. An old man collapsed in the street not far from his surgery, had previous history of heart problems. He refused too go to see him, said he was with a Patient, which was a lie. He even refused again when the 061 service asked him to attend. So this man died after lying on the floor for 45 mins.


Private or social security doctor?

Meanwhile I remember seeing two medical staff come flying out of our healthcentre a while ago with one of those machines for sending electric shocks to restart the heart - someone had collapsed in the street.
We have always been pretty pleased with the treatment received (including 2 life threatening conditions). It's not perfect, but once they know what you have needs treatment then the treatment is very good. Where I've found the health service most lacking is in "bedside manner"


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Private or social security doctor?
> 
> Meanwhile I remember seeing two medical staff come flying out of our healthcentre a while ago with one of those machines for sending electric shocks to restart the heart - someone had collapsed in the street.
> We have always been pretty pleased with the treatment received (including 2 life threatening conditions). It's not perfect, but once they know what you have needs treatment then the treatment is very good*. Where I've found the health service most lacking is in "bedside manner*"


Quite the opposite in Andalucia, in our experience...


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

I believe that the SS health system is equal to or even better than the UK in terms of what you get. Some treatments seem to be available in Spain after the UK, a family member had a chronic condition which was treated with drugs that caused serious problems but i found newer better ones were in use in the UK and when we questioned we were told they were a year or so from being approved in Spain BUT in general the system is very good. Like anywhere in the world in both the public and private sectors there are good and bad doctors and nurses but apart from one doctor who was very bad in attitude and compasion I have found all SS doctors amazing. I suffer from high BP due to a Kidney problem and once had to go to urgencias (SS) and the care was instant and amazing. 

Likewise I also use private and find that there are some amazing doctors and amazing hospitals in Spain.

In general I would have no hesitation in saying to anyone that whether state or private you will get care that rivals or beats that of the UK in Spain.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Free local health care, all very good and if I cannot be treated here, I get a free flight to another island where I can be treated.

Waiting rooms are noisy and chaotic


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## GallineraGirl (Aug 13, 2011)

angkag said:


> We have Sanitas, and the negative is that we have to go quite a few miles (5 or so) up the road to get to their allowable health centres. The positive is that it includes a private hospital which is about 5 miles away, and the two times we have had to use emergency (kids accidents, one requiring a cast and one requiring stitches), there were no queues and the treatment was immediate. We had an issue in Hong Kong where even though the treatment was generally very good, the emergency departments in hospitals were almost always very busy and you could sit in emergency depts for quite a long time, even with something quite serious (one of the kids had a brain bleed and the longest part of the process was getting through emergency - but as soon as they knew what it was, it actually took less time between diagnosis and brain surgery than it did getting through emergency to a diagnosis ! Full recovery by the way). In follow-up appointments in the hospital here in Spain the various departments seem to be much, much busier and a lot more people. But each time we have been on time for the appointments and got called in at the exact time of the appointments. This was another frustration in HK where every time we had an appointment, the scheduled time seemed to be irrelevant and the wait could be up to an hour after arrival. So, so far, so good here. But we don't know what it would be like in a serious emergency like the brain op needed in HK (which is probably about as serious as it gets as an extended delay would result in blood spilling into the brain tissue and subsequent long term damage - the speed at which they operated at in HK avoided long term damage, and we sometimes wonder how it would have gone if we had been living somewhere else at the time).


Our friend who lives in rural Valencia recently had a brain haemorrhage. An ambulance was called, she was diagnosed in the local hospital and was then sent to the Brain Unit in Valencia, by ambulance with a nurse, anaesthetist, and surgeon incase she needed to be operated on en route. She made it to hospital and survived the 5 hour operation there and is now on the road to recovery.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Operated en route that's a new one. not a medical expert but......


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## expatlora1 (Jul 30, 2014)

Thank you for all your replies. It seems like the current health care system in place for foreigners is pretty much the same as in Portugal. Pleased that the overall healthcare system works well which is a big plus!! Can anyone recommend any Medical insurance companies? At the moment, we have an international medical insurance -- our coverage is worldwide! It is expensive but at the end of the day, one's health is everything. Looks like we would have to either check out private insurance companies in Spain or continue with our current one! Have a good one!!


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## GallineraGirl (Aug 13, 2011)

Isobella said:


> Operated en route that's a new one. not a medical expert but......


It was a life or death situation....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Isobella said:


> Operated en route that's a new one. not a medical expert but......


Doctors will operate at the scene of an accident if needs be...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Quite the opposite in Andalucia, in our experience...


Certainly my present healthcentre doctor is the nicest I've ever had. 
On past threads people have readily agreed that treatment has been of high quality and efficient, but not sympathetic 
Hopefully things are improving then...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

When heart attack 3 years ago, we went to the nearby hospital and after stabilisation, I was sent to the Provincial hospital by ambulance with all the equipment and accompanied by a nurse and doctor, presumably in case I needed urgent attention, en-route.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Certainly my present healthcentre doctor is the nicest I've ever had.
> On past threads people have readily agreed that treatment has been of high quality and efficient, but not sympathetic
> Hopefully things are improving then...


Maybe people are nicer to sweet little old ladies like me...

Seriously, though, I find the whole experience of health care here second to none. I have never waited long either at Out Patients at the hospital or at our local surgery but every time I have been drawn into conversation and have actually made friends.
I found it a bit unnerving the first time I went to our local surgery and was asked 'What are you here for?' by a complete stranger in the waiting room but I'm used to it now and it's interesting to compare ailments.
I much prefer the noisy, café-like ambience of Spanish waiting rooms to the sterile, impersonal one of our doctor's waiting room in the UK where the silence was broken only by the noisy screeching of uncontrolled (and uncontrollable) little brats.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Maybe people are nicer to sweet little old ladies like me...
> 
> Seriously, though, I find the whole experience of health care here second to none. I have never waited long either at Out Patients at the hospital or at our local surgery but every time I have been drawn into conversation and have actually made friends.
> I found it a bit unnerving the first time I went to our local surgery and was asked 'What are you here for?' by a complete stranger in the waiting room but I'm used to it now and it's interesting to compare ailments.
> I much prefer the noisy, café-like ambience of Spanish waiting rooms to the sterile, impersonal one of our doctor's waiting room in the UK where the silence was broken only by the noisy screeching of uncontrolled (and uncontrollable) little brats.


The Spanish waiting room is a social centre (in addition we even have the official Centro Social on the floor above the health centre) and people will just pop in to see if there is anyone they know in the waiting room with a greater than 75% chance of success.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Maybe people are nicer to sweet little old ladies like me...
> 
> Seriously, though, I find the whole experience of health care here second to none. I have never waited long either at Out Patients at the hospital or at our local surgery but every time I have been drawn into conversation and have actually made friends.
> I found it a bit unnerving the first time I went to our local surgery and was asked 'What are you here for?' by a complete stranger in the waiting room but I'm used to it now and it's interesting to compare ailments.
> I much prefer the noisy, café-like ambience of Spanish waiting rooms to the sterile, impersonal one of our doctor's waiting room in the UK where the silence was broken only by the noisy screeching of uncontrolled (and uncontrollable) little brats.


I defy anyone to have been sweeter and nicer than my three year old daughter with blond ringlets( :hug when she was diagnosed with possibly fatal septicemia from meningitis, but she was told to stop making a fuss when she was having god knows what jabbed in her arm and I was told off for sitting on the bed and reading her a story. And I could go on about the mean little things that were said to us on a daily basis.
Not to mention the fact that I had to go out to have a smoke and I would tell them and ask them to keep an eye on her, whilst they sat in the nurses station smoking to their hearts content even though it was forbidden (this was quite a few years ago mind)
Even so, the medical treatment was excellent and the facilities were good.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I defy anyone to have been sweeter and nicer than my three year old daughter with blond ringlets( :hug when she was diagnosed with possibly fatal septicemia from meningitis, but she was told to stop making a fuss when she was having god knows what jabbed in her arm and I was told off for sitting on the bed and reading her a story. And I could go on about the mean little things that were said to us on a daily basis.
> Not to mention the fact that I had to go out to have a smoke and I would tell them and ask them to keep an eye on her, whilst they sat in the nurses station smoking to their hearts content even though it was forbidden (this was quite a few years ago mind)
> Even so, the medical treatment was excellent and the facilities were good.


What a horrible way to treat a sick and probably frightened child.
About the smoking....the receptionist at our Consultorio is always nipping outside for a smoke and I've seen nurses and doctors at the CdS puffing away.
Yet there are notices everywhere stating smoking is forbidden 
within the hospital grounds.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

A couple of years ago I had occasion to go to A&E at both our local hospital and the Hospital Materno Infantil in Malaga Capital to interpret for a friend whose 6 year old daughter had fallen and broken her arm on the first day they arrived for their holiday. I was really impressed by how gentle, kind and affectionate all the medical staff we came into contact with were with her, managing to comfort her and put her at ease despite not speaking the same language. The same could be said for everyone who chatted to us whilst we were in various waiting rooms, all taking a keen interest in what had happened and being very sympathetic and making a fuss of her.

On the evening the accident happened she was seen, x-rayed and then given the news by the doctor that we'd have to go to Malaga to have the bone set, travelled to the Malaga hospital 30km away by taxi, were booked in, triaged, seen, x-rayed, had bone set and arm plastered, x-rayed again to make sure fracture was aligned properly, seen again and given report to take back to local hospital for follow up appointments, and travelled back home again another 30km by taxi, all within the space of 4.5 hours.


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## expatlora1 (Jul 30, 2014)

So, in general it seems like Spain's health care system works. There will always be some negative issues with even the best system in place around the world. For now, it is a big tick for us. Thanks for all your replies!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Good to see doctors and nurses being recruited for the Health Service in Andalucia. Hopefully some qualified people will be able to get jobs in their own country and not have to look elsewhere.


Salud saca a concurso cerca de mil plazas para medicina de familia y enfermería . SUR.es


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## Xibalba (Feb 1, 2015)

Lynn R said:


> In Spain, citizens of other EU countries who wish to register as residents in Spain (which they are required to do within 90 days) must provide proof of adequate health cover, either by means of an employment contract which means they will be paying social security contributions and therefore covered under the state health system, or private health insurance from a Spanish company with no co-payments involved.
> 
> The EHIC card is only supposed to be used by visitors, not by people who are resident here.
> 
> ...


Forgive me if I'm wrong but ,as far as I'm aware (web research & as told by our Spanish lawyer) you can contribute into the Spanish health care system ,whether you are employed or self employed , so having private medical insurance is not necessary


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Xibalba said:


> Forgive me if I'm wrong but ,as far as I'm aware (web research & as told by our Spanish lawyer) you can contribute into the Spanish health care system ,whether you are employed or self employed , so having private medical insurance is not necessary


Yes, it's called _convenio especial_ - but this is only available after you've been resident for a year.

So you still need private insurance for the first year.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

expatlora1 said:


> So, in general it seems like Spain's health care system works. There will always be some negative issues with even the best system in place around the world. For now, it is a big tick for us. Thanks for all your replies!


I've not yet personally experienced the Spanish health service, state or private, but the majority of reports I've heard have been complimentary for both.

Just like the nhs I'm sure there are some horror stories...I myself can say that I've found the nhs to be very good, even excellent, but I could also tell you some tales from personal experience that could make your hair curl!.....but generally it is still very good.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Xibalba said:


> Forgive me if I'm wrong but ,as far as I'm aware (web research & as told by our Spanish lawyer) you can contribute into the Spanish health care system ,whether you are employed or self employed , so having private medical insurance is not necessary


Please, reread the first paragraph of my post which includes the words

"In Spain, citizens of other EU countries who wish to register as residents in Spain (which they are required to do within 90 days) must provide proof of adequate health cover, either by means of an employment contract which means they will be paying social security contributions and therefore covered under the state health system"


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Lynn R said:


> Please, reread the first paragraph of my post which includes the words
> 
> "In Spain, citizens of other EU countries who wish to register as residents in Spain (which they are required to do within 90 days) must provide proof of adequate health cover, either by means of an employment contract which means they will be paying social security contributions and therefore covered under the state health system"


I think they are assuming that he will be working, or going self employed (automino?), and therefore you don't need private health cover as you'd be covered by your contributions? I'm hoping they don't think they don't need health cover, because it is clearly one of the requirements of coming to spain


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

StevejR1 said:


> I think they are assuming that he will be working, or going self employed (automino?), and therefore you don't need private health cover as you'd be covered by your contributions? I'm hoping they don't think they don't need health cover, because it is clearly one of the requirements of coming to spain


But that's what I said in the original post, that if you're working and paying social security contributions you are covered!


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Sorry, my mistake


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We have just returned from an appointment at the CdS Hospital, Marbella, and my partner has received the all-clear after having been operated on for skin nasties. She received first rate care at this publicly funded hospital throughout her course of treatment.
Four years ago she spent several thousand euros on treatment for this same condition at a Helicopteros Sanitarios Clinic in Marbella. The treatment was ineffective as the carcinomas reappeared over the next few years. The doctor who operated didn't succeed in completely cutting out the carcinomas.
The doctor she saw today was the same doctor who operated on her at the HS clinic. Fortunately this doctor did not perform the successful operation at the CdS.
My partner can hold her tongue, unlike me. I would have said 'If you had done your job properly at HS I wouldn't need to be here today'.
Neither of us will ever waste our money on private health care again. I wasted several hundreds of euros for useless scans which gave a totally false diagnosis at HS. I got a correct diagnosis and cure from the state health service.

When push comes to shove, private clinics exist to make a profit. Nothing wrong with that in principle, I'm a believer in capitalism and the profit motive. But I do think that health care should not be a source of profit and I do believe that when so many of the private doctors and nurses were trained at public expense and work in publicly funded hospitals it just doesn't make sense either socially or economically to fork out for nice furniture, pictures on walls and fish tanks.
Which is what the difference often amounts to.

The Surgeon who did my eye ops at the CdS Hospital also works privately. The cost for these ops is more than double when done privately.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> Neither of us will ever waste our money on private health care again. I wasted several hundreds of euros for useless scans which gave a totally false diagnosis at HS. I got a correct diagnosis and cure from the state health service.


I have heard at least half a dozen similar stories about HS. There can be a downside to private health in that some unscrupulous medics can carry out unecessary procedures.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Isobella said:


> I have heard at least half a dozen similar stories about HS. There can be a downside to private health in that some unscrupulous medics can carry out unecessary procedures.


I'm sure that's only too true.
But this was a case of not thoroughly carrying out necessary procedures. Treatment at HS was carried out in what compared to the CdS op was an almost casual manner.
Every visit for the wounds to be dressed incurred a charge and all bandages, pills, creams etc. had to be paid for.
Whereas the aftercare at CdS included all dressings and other items. No charge.


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## Andrew.in.Alora (Apr 19, 2010)

"British citizens who are receiving a State Pension can apply for an S1 form from the DWP which means that the UK Government will pay for their healthcare from the Spanish state health system. In the case of a married couple where only one is a pensioner, the spouse can also be covered as their dependent. We have just gone through this process when my husband became a pensioner late last year, and would not say it was overly complicated although it did take almost two months to complete. We had to take our S1 forms to our nearest INSS (Social Security office) to be registered, wait for them to send us a certificate confirming our entitlement to state healthcare, then take that to our local health centre where they registered us with a doctor and then wait for our health entitlement cards to arrive through the post which took another 3 weeks"

The above is really interesting as we are just about to go to the INSS office with my wifes S1 as she is a pensioner and want to include me as I have some years left before retirement age.
Please could you detail exactly what documents the INSS needed. Did they need a marriage cert translated etc? or was the S1, padron certificate, passports, and residency cards enough?. Not sure where you live but I live in Alora and wondered where the nearest INSS office is.

This forum is fab for info
Thanks


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## Andrew.in.Alora (Apr 19, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> ......
> British citizens who are receiving a State Pension can apply for an S1 form from the DWP which means that the UK Government will pay for their healthcare from the Spanish state health system. In the case of a married couple where only one is a pensioner, the spouse can also be covered as their dependent. We have just gone through this process when my husband became a pensioner late last year, and would not say it was overly complicated although it did take almost two months to complete. We had to take our S1 forms to our nearest INSS (Social Security office) to be registered, wait for them to send us a certificate confirming our entitlement to state healthcare, then take that to our local health centre where they registered us with a doctor and then wait for our health entitlement cards to arrive through the post.


The above is really interesting as we are just about to go to the INSS office with my wifes S1 as she is a pensioner and want to include me as I have some years left before retirement age.
Please could you detail exactly what documents the INSS needed. Did they need a marriage cert translated etc? or was the S1, padron certificate, passports, and residency cards enough?. 
Thanks


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Neither of us will ever waste our money on private health care again.


I have friends who have had tests done at privately and have then given the results to their Social Security doctors as this has speeded up the process. You do have to ask your SS doctor about this though to make sure that s/he agrees and will accept these results as some doctors will not accept any test results that have not been done on their authorisation


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Andrew.in.Alora said:


> "British citizens who are receiving a State Pension can apply for an S1 form from the DWP which means that the UK Government will pay for their healthcare from the Spanish state health system. In the case of a married couple where only one is a pensioner, the spouse can also be covered as their dependent. We have just gone through this process when my husband became a pensioner late last year, and would not say it was overly complicated although it did take almost two months to complete. We had to take our S1 forms to our nearest INSS (Social Security office) to be registered, wait for them to send us a certificate confirming our entitlement to state healthcare, then take that to our local health centre where they registered us with a doctor and then wait for our health entitlement cards to arrive through the post which took another 3 weeks"
> 
> The above is really interesting as we are just about to go to the INSS office with my wifes S1 as she is a pensioner and want to include me as I have some years left before retirement age.
> Please could you detail exactly what documents the INSS needed. Did they need a marriage cert translated etc? or was the S1, padron certificate, passports, and residency cards enough?. Not sure where you live but I live in Alora and wondered where the nearest INSS office is.
> ...


She should have asked DWP to include you as a dependant and then she would have got an S1 for you and any other dependants. I had S1s for SWMBO and her mother.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Andrew.in.Alora said:


> Not sure where you live but I live in Alora and wondered where the nearest INSS office is.
> 
> This forum is fab for info
> Thanks


Pl. Médico Zamudio, 1
29500 ALORA(MÁLAGA )
Teléfono(s) 95 2496121 
Nº de Fax 95 2495558 Oficina de Registro de [email protected] Oficina de Registro de Certificados Digitales Cita previa a través de internet
Observaciones: Dispone de servicio de CITA PREVIA - Teléfono(s): 901 106570


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## expatlora1 (Jul 30, 2014)

Interesting reading! Should we decide to come to Spain and have private insurance, instead of going to private hospitals/clinics, I'm guessing we could still avail of government healthcare? It is true that some private hospitals charge an arm and a leg for dismal services (because they are private and they can). These places exist all over the world. We always do our homework before we take on anything. It pays to be informed -- this is our health at the end of the day! We have met some really good caring doctors and unfortunately some really bad ones who think they can play 'God' with lives just because they have a degree! 'When in doubt, get out' is how I think of these situations!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

expatlora1 said:


> Interesting reading! Should we decide to come to Spain and have private insurance, instead of going to private hospitals/clinics, I'm guessing we could still avail of government healthcare? It is true that some private hospitals charge an arm and a leg for dismal services (because they are private and they can). These places exist all over the world. We always do our homework before we take on anything. It pays to be informed -- this is our health at the end of the day! We have met some really good caring doctors and unfortunately some really bad ones who think they can play 'God' with lives just because they have a degree! 'When in doubt, get out' is how I think of these situations!!


whether you can use the state healthcare system will depend upon your personal circumstances - not everyone is entitled to


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

expatlora1 said:


> Interesting reading! Should we decide to come to Spain and have private insurance, instead of going to private hospitals/clinics, I'm guessing we could still avail of government healthcare? It is true that some private hospitals charge an arm and a leg for dismal services (because they are private and they can). These places exist all over the world. We always do our homework before we take on anything. It pays to be informed -- this is our health at the end of the day! We have met some really good caring doctors and unfortunately some really bad ones who think they can play 'God' with lives just because they have a degree! 'When in doubt, get out' is how I think of these situations!!


I don't think your private insurance will give you access to state care...we qualify because we're old


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Unfortunately in most places, Doctors tend to treat the symptoms instead of looking for the cause because it is the easy way out. Got a headache - take two paracetamol completely ignoring the fact that you have an axe in your cranium.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

My GP wrote to the hospital here back in November as My other half needs an op, nothing major, but causing him some issues. We have heard nothing.

Healthcare , in my opinion, is like anywhere else, dependent on where you live


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

*Doctors*



cambio said:


> My GP wrote to the hospital here back in November as My other half needs an op, nothing major, but causing him some issues. We have heard nothing.
> 
> Healthcare , in my opinion, is like anywhere else, dependent on where you live


Just worth a try. Tell doc that hubby has pains in his arm and seems short of breath or a bit of pain or whatever.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

cambio said:


> My GP wrote to the hospital here back in November as My other half needs an op, nothing major, but causing him some issues. We have heard nothing.
> 
> Healthcare , in my opinion, is like anywhere else, dependent on where you live


My GP is more of a referral system than a general practitioner. I've consulted him about two different problems. Each time he's given me an appointment to see a specialist at the hospital before I've left the surgery. As the problems weren't that urgent, I had to wait about six weeks to see the specialist.
Not sure how that would compare to a similar situation in the NHS.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> My GP is more of a referral system than a general practitioner. I've consulted him about two different problems. Each time he's given me an appointment to see a specialist at the hospital before I've left the surgery. As the problems weren't that urgent, I had to wait about six weeks to see the specialist.
> Not sure how that would compare to a similar situation in the NHS.


we have almost always left the surgery with an appointment with a consultant if needed - & only a couple of times have we left the hospital without a referral or follow up appointment, and had a phone call fairly soon after that with a date

Everything is done on a centralised computer system

atm my daughter is waiting for an MRI - but we were told there is a two month waiting list & they only give the appointments a couple of weeks ahead

we've had this kind of situation before & haven't yet been let down


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Both countries publish waiting time lists. None make good reading. Some areas are better than others.

The UK has a two week rule to see a consultant if a serious condition is suspected. I know two people who had the same heart operation at Chichester, one waited 5 months and the other less than a month. Suppose it depends what the Consultant decides is urgent.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Our GP here in Spain when asked for an appointment to see an endocrinology specialist said "I don't know anything about endocrinology" to which we replied, "That's why we want an appointment to see an endocrinologist!" Duh!


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## Andrew.in.Alora (Apr 19, 2010)

*thanks*



baldilocks said:


> She should have asked DWP to include you as a dependant and then she would have got an S1 for you and any other dependants. I had S1s for SWMBO and her mother.


Thanks for info baldilocks, very helpful. We have just rang DWP and they are sending out a new amended S1 to include me.


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