Health Care for Expats in Spain

Health care in Spain is of a very high standard with good local health

centres or Centros de Salud and here on the Costa del Sol we have an excellent

central hospital,the "Costa del Sol", at Marbella. In

addition to which there 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 they pushed 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 your health care in Spain and 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

or
target="_blank">travel insurance if you are just visiting. You can apply

for this new card
target="_blank">online here.



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 are in receipt of a U.K. pension and intend to live in Spain

then you need to get a form E121 and this should 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 free practise 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.











Article submitted by Ruth Polak the owner of
vacationrentals.com" title="www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com" target="_blank">

www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com A web site specializing in holiday villas and

apartments on the Costa del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. You will also

find lots of information about Spain and Andalucia, in particular.