Health Care in Spain for Visitors and Ex-Pats Living and Working Here
Health carein Spain is of a very high standard with good local health centres or Centros de Salud and here onthe Costa del Sol we have an excellent central hospital,the "Costa del Sol", at Marbella.
In addition to whichthere are of course many other hospitals both private and public but most ex-pats tend to gravitate towards the "Costa del Sol" and you hear very good reports of the treatment people have received there.
Certainly my own experiences through attending the A & E, or "Urgencias" when the children were little were very positive.
On one occasion my son broke his foot and we were in and out within and hour having had the offending foot, x-rayed and plastered.
The staff there are kind and caring and there are translators on hand if your Spanish is limited.
They have a very positive attitude to relatives and in fact are quite happy for one to be present at the hospital 24 hours a day.
When my other son of 15 was in with a broken leg he shared a room with a younger boy and theypushed the beds together so that the boys father could sleep there.
A bit unorthodox by some standards perhaps but the Spanish are extremely family oriented and they made every effort to include my son in their visits.
Your E111, or European Health Card as it is now called, will suffice for many of your needs in relation to yourhealth care in Spainand in fact both the incidents sited above were taken care of by my E111 even though the latter involved quite a complex operation with my son's leg being pinned.
Follow up treatment needs to be paid for however so private health insurance is advisable if you are living in Spain orif you are just visiting.
You can apply for your European Health Card at http://www.
ehic.
org.
uk.
If you are living and working in Spain and therefore paying social security then you will be entitled to the same health care in Spain as Spanish nationals.
If you arein receipt of a U.
K.
pension and intend to live in Spain then you need to get a form E121 and thisshould be taken to your nearest Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social (INSS) office for registration.
You will then be issued with a medical card which you must produce if you require treatment anywhere and you will then receive this free of charge.
Spanish chemists, or Farmacias,are a great part of health care in Spain and are a good port of call if your symptoms are not serious enough to worry your doctor or take you to the A&E department of the hospital.
You will always receive good advice there and probably be recommended something for whatever ails you.
If you are receiving prescription drugs at home then bring the packet with you and you will probably find that you will be able to buy your medicines over the counter without the need of a further prescription.
I must say however that I think their rather freepractise of dishing out antibiotics to anyone who asks is not really to be condoned.
In conclusion the level of health care in Spain for both residents and non- residents is of the highest standard and waiting lists are probably shorter than in the U.
K.
Accident and emergency treatment is provided free for anyone with a European Health card and the full medical services are available for pensioners who have registered with the appropriate authority and for anyone paying into the social security system.
In addition to whichthere are of course many other hospitals both private and public but most ex-pats tend to gravitate towards the "Costa del Sol" and you hear very good reports of the treatment people have received there.
Certainly my own experiences through attending the A & E, or "Urgencias" when the children were little were very positive.
On one occasion my son broke his foot and we were in and out within and hour having had the offending foot, x-rayed and plastered.
The staff there are kind and caring and there are translators on hand if your Spanish is limited.
They have a very positive attitude to relatives and in fact are quite happy for one to be present at the hospital 24 hours a day.
When my other son of 15 was in with a broken leg he shared a room with a younger boy and theypushed the beds together so that the boys father could sleep there.
A bit unorthodox by some standards perhaps but the Spanish are extremely family oriented and they made every effort to include my son in their visits.
Your E111, or European Health Card as it is now called, will suffice for many of your needs in relation to yourhealth care in Spainand in fact both the incidents sited above were taken care of by my E111 even though the latter involved quite a complex operation with my son's leg being pinned.
Follow up treatment needs to be paid for however so private health insurance is advisable if you are living in Spain orif you are just visiting.
You can apply for your European Health Card at http://www.
ehic.
org.
uk.
If you are living and working in Spain and therefore paying social security then you will be entitled to the same health care in Spain as Spanish nationals.
If you arein receipt of a U.
K.
pension and intend to live in Spain then you need to get a form E121 and thisshould be taken to your nearest Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social (INSS) office for registration.
You will then be issued with a medical card which you must produce if you require treatment anywhere and you will then receive this free of charge.
Spanish chemists, or Farmacias,are a great part of health care in Spain and are a good port of call if your symptoms are not serious enough to worry your doctor or take you to the A&E department of the hospital.
You will always receive good advice there and probably be recommended something for whatever ails you.
If you are receiving prescription drugs at home then bring the packet with you and you will probably find that you will be able to buy your medicines over the counter without the need of a further prescription.
I must say however that I think their rather freepractise of dishing out antibiotics to anyone who asks is not really to be condoned.
In conclusion the level of health care in Spain for both residents and non- residents is of the highest standard and waiting lists are probably shorter than in the U.
K.
Accident and emergency treatment is provided free for anyone with a European Health card and the full medical services are available for pensioners who have registered with the appropriate authority and for anyone paying into the social security system.