Treatment for existing medical condition

Hi all

I forgot to mention that I intend moving permanently to Spain and that is why i would like to know about healthcare under the Spanish system.

With residency you can apply for the Spanish SIP card if you are at or over retirement age it will cover your existing medical condition as they bill the UK. Good business for them !

You will need to register with a Spanish Doctor. They will not need your medical records as they do their own. Spanish Doctors claim they are better trained than English Doctors claiming half are imports and they claim they have questionable qualifications. They claim Spanish Doctors training is a lot longer and more intensive than UK Doctors.

Check the UK GOV website moving to Spain they have links to everything you need to know.

There is now strict criteria in Spain you have mentioned a few, but you need a minimum of 10,000€ cash for each applicant.

Healthcare is quicker and excellent most residents confirm.

Our own family experience is the treatment was thorough and extensive as was the aftercare. Lack of Spanish has never been a problem just linked to politeness and attempts to speak a little Espanol works well.

Hi Kathy - you said: "I intend moving permanently to Spain" and you are retired so you will need an S1 letter and EU form that you get from DWP. This is easy to obtain.

We are retired and live in Roquetas and we obtained residency and health centre registration in August and Sept. Our experience differs from that of Rascalmate so I will message you privately. We also used a gestor in Roquetas.

Thanks

Your answer gives me more hope of achieving my goal and moving over.  I will be coming over as a single retired person.  I have the amount of cash that may be required and I do receive a reasonable pension each month when I take into account my occupational pension and my state pension.  I still pay tax on my occupational pension each month.  I would prefer at my age, I'm over 66 years old,  to rent a property in Spain rather than buy a small apartment and have the responsibility of repairs etc.,  I have had  one experience of health care in Spain when I went to a public health hospital in the Costa del Sol area.  It wasn't to do with my heart or lung problem but I found that the whole process from going to the hospital, seeing the triage nurse, then the consultant and so on was second to none.

I'll check the website also and I have been trying to teach myself some basic Spanish :-)

Thanks again.

Just to add my two centimos worth; regarding the training of Doctors; our good friends daughter is currently undergoing her medical degree.  She spends I believe 5 years in University, then 3 years residency before she is qualified to call herself “Doctor”

Absolutely  - three years more than in England.

As our Spanish Doctor says,  

 half the Doctors in the UK hardly speak English and have "questionable" foreign training.

I hope she does well Dario 

Thanks - I’m sure she will.  She wants to specialize in ENT; or “Otorrinolaringología” as it is known here ....

"half the Doctors in the UK hardly speak English and have "questionable" foreign training".

I have only recently arrived from the UK and do know of the quality of health care (and doctors) in the English NHS. As you may know health is a devolved function so I cannot speak of the quality of medical training, health care or language skills amongst doctors in Wales or Scotland or Ireland, although I doubt that many speak Spanish!

I don't think it's either helpful or evidence-based to describe half the doctors in England as hardly speaking English or having questionable foreign training. Indeed it's nonsense. But I'm not intending to get into a debate about it. 

Hi,

As a retired Trauma Surgeon I also take objection to the outrageous comments.

The treatment we have received from Medical Practitioners in Murcia Province has been appalling. Our own GP is the Prof for GP to Murcia Medical School. He conducted an examination.on me such that should I have been examining him  as a final year student, I would have failed him. The alleged surgeon I saw in Lorca was incompetent and my wife's treatment has been nothing short or barbaric.

Try to implement their Complaint mechanism. It's a joke.

We retain a home in UK as if I required terminal care it certainly wouldn't be here. 

Your experiences may be better, but from a professional standpoint I no longer trust the Medical services here in Murcia.

Bob and Sandra

PS And we have been here since 2002 although only requiring Medical opinions over last 2 years. UK Medical students do 5 yrs from 2nd M.B., Ch.B. & 6 yrs if from 1st M.B., Ch. B. Then 1yr of Residency doing 2x 6month jobs. If they decide to become GPs it's a further 3years.