Tammy

Hi could anyone let me no what the doctours are like in spain, as in general pratice, are they like in england when you phone then visit, do you have a general doctour for the areas you are in thanks

julian_m

Don't you mean you phone, get an appointment in a week's time, and if you're still ill then and go to the appointment, they tell you to take paracetamol and come back in another week if you aren't better? Or you phone out of hours and get a message telling you to phone NHS Direct, who tell you to get yourself to accident and emergency 20 miles away, but if you're too ill to drive, and don't have enough cash for a taxi, it isn't their responsibility how you get there?

Thay can't possibly be worse in Spain.

mikelincs

Depends whether you are in a private scheme or the Spanish NHS, in the Spanish version of the NSH, you normally register with a local health centre, and are assigned to a Dr there. If you are in Valencia province the rules seem somewhat different to the rest of Spain for people who are not yet retired, in that non retired people seem to be accepted into the Spanish NHS. Being retired I can only speak from my own experience, but my Dr is very good, speaks good English, a help, and keeps her appointments running on time. Drugs ahve to be paid for if you are not retired, but the majority seem to be cheaper to buy than the price of a prescription in the UK. You normally phone for an appointment, are given one and a time, you can always see how the Dr is doing regarding her appointment as the names and times are on a list outside the clinic, and you can check as they call the patients in.

j0197

My NHS Doctors has got busier in the past 3 years since I have lived here.

Nearly 3 years ago I could phone for the pediatrician at 8.30 and get an appointment that morning or at least the next morning.

Now, when I call, most of the time its in 2 days time, occassionally the next day.

If you are NHS and need to see someone in an emergency, there is normally a Central Salud (health Centre) open 24 hours or obviously the local hospital.

Private is a different matter. If you go to the general Private Doctor, then you wait your turn. If you are going to see a specialist then you get a proper appointment and generally they are on time.

Regarding Antibiotics, if you are ill, its unlikely you will leave without them. Antibiotics seem to be the answer to everything here!

I still much prefer to be ill here than in the uk!

Lynn R

I've had the opposite problem in the UK - I have phoned my GP's surgery and asked to make an appointment in a few days' time as I needed advice but the problem was not urgent and I did not want to take up time that someone with more urgent needs could make better use of, plus I can't take time off work without notice to attend an appointment the same day unless it's really necessary. I phoned at 9.00 am and the receptionist could offer me an appointment that day but not make one for me more than 48 hours in advance because otherwise they would not meet Government targets that patients must not wait more than 48 hours for an appointment. How crazy is that?

dazzle

Lynn, I like that new appointments system. I wait until the day I want to go to the Doctors, ring up at 8.00am and get an appointment that day. Usually I tell them a guide time and get one around that time - and in most cases the appointments are running to time when I get there.

I'm happy.

Ray51

Yes , and in an ideal world , you might even get so lucky , as to actually get through to your practice , on that very same a.m. i.e. when you'd like to be seen later same day ? While everyone else is dialling yet again , for the nth time , only to again get the "busy" signals...

Lynn R

Well it's good it works for someone, Dazzle - but at 8.00 am I'm already on my way to work and as I commute for 1.5 hours each way, if I ring the surgery at 9.00 and they offer me an appointment at 10.30 am that day (as has happened) it's already too late for me to get there! And if I took that appointment when I have a non-urgent problem, is it fair that someone who might be in pain would have to wait longer when I could happily wait 3 days for an appointment and it would actually be more convenient for me to have it arranged that far in advance.

What there needs to be is flexibility to accommodate patients' needs and clinical priority, not a rigid system.

We now have an NHS walk in centre in Manchester city centre which I tend to use instead of my GP, it is very good and when I went I only had to wait 15 minutes. It's great for people who work full time and can't necessarily take a half day off to attend a 10 minute GP appointment, but don't want to clog up the A&E department with a non urgent problem.

dazzle

I see your point Lynn and I guess there never will be a perfect system as what suits some people won't suit others.

There was an item on the news the other day, saying they were considering putting GP's into A&E departments so that they're not clogged with non emergencies, would that help someone in your position?

Lynn R

Yes it might, Dazzle, but the nearest A&E Depts to my former English home are already 7 miles away in either direction (I don't drive, it is a half hour bus journey to one, and only a bus service every 2 hours to the town where the other one is, then the hospital is not in the centre of town and you have to get another bus or a taxi to the hospital). There are now plans in hand to close both of these A&E departments which would make the nearest one 20 miles away in either Oldham or Blackburn. I don't like to think what effect that will have on real emergencies when people will have to be transported that kind of distance by ambulance.

Luckily the main regional hospital is situated in the town I am moving to in Spain (Velez-Malaga) and there is a very good modern health centre in the town also. Having easy access to these kinds of facilities is one of the reasons we chose it, happily both of us are in excellent health at the moment but may not be so lucky when we get older.

coralsoft

Both private and state general practice doctors that I and my family have experienced around us outside Madrid have been excellent. It is a major factor in us not wanting to return to the UK. You can phone or turn up to make an appointment. Sometimes you'll strike lucky and get one on the spot. We have little 'emergency' clinics as well as the GP's, who will see you for minor ailments straight away. With private, you can also go direct to the specialists of your choice, without referral from GP. I've not had to use the full-blown emergency facilities here. Maybe they're as bad as the mega-facilities miles from home that people have to resort to in the UK. But I doubt it.

Once or twice we've been unable to get appointments on the same day. They will juggle things around if it's for a child. On the emergency front, my wife dropped me off on a Saturday night to get a deep cut treated and I was calling her to pick me up before she'd even got back into the house. That's how fast they often are. I doubt they even have an 'over 4 hours = must provide a bed' target like in the UK, because they never, ever keep anyone waiting that long.