Radiotherapy
 

Can someone help with advice please. We have been living in Spain for 4 years and had no health problems. But a few months ago my husband was rushed in as an emergency which we used our E111 card. He had a 10 day stay in hospital and has had some tests done and they have found that he has prostrate cancer. The treatment thay have suggested is radiotherapy.

Question 1 Can anyone tell us the cost of private radiotherapy in Spain he needs 30?

Question 2 If we go back to the UK can we just pick up at our doctors ( we never came off their books although we have no UK addresss) and have the treatment over there ?
If anyone has been in this situation would be grateful for any advice. Thanks

Re: Radiotherapy
 

how much treatment would be in spain no idear sorry.my parents live in spain and use our address we order there perscriptions for them and send the tablets out to them .is there any ones address you could use near to you old doctors .i would get it sorted prity quick to get his treatment on the way .good luck.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

So sorry about your husbands illness.

Unfortunately the UK NHS system is residence based. If you leave the country and your old dr knows, he/she should have sent your records away and no longer hold them at the Practice. However, if you didn't tell them you may get away with it provided you can supply a (supposedly) permanent address in the area covered by the same Dr's Practice.

Alternatively if you can provide a 'permanent' address elsewhere in the UK you could just register at the Drs in that area giving your previous Drs details.

Your husband will not get his treatment in the UK if you say that you are permanently resident in Spain.

As to the cost of private treatment in Spain, sorry no idea. You need to find a private hospital in your area and see if they provide the treatment on a 'pay as you go basis'.

Best of luck

Rose

Re: Radiotherapy
 

Sympathy and all that but...
...do you feel you are still morally entitled to free health care in the UK?
I hope treatment is successful wherever you get it but if it's the UK then I do hope that you have never complained (and never will) about immigrants availing themselves of the UK's goodwill.
Maybe if you feel any compunction about using the UK's resources when you are not entitled and when there are people who ARE entitled on waiting lists you could make a very large donation to a cancer charity.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

Oh my :(

Re: Radiotherapy
 

Hillybilly is right though.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

A bit harsh though imo.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

I didn´t say she wasn´t harsh, I said she was right.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

And imo when someone asks for advice over such delicate matters, they really do not need to hear that regardless if it is right or wrong.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

I agree totally with you

Re: Radiotherapy
 

Agreed.

Health care for expats in Spain is a minefield and it's easy to be wise after the event.

The reality is that if you leave the UK for more than 3 months (6 months for a pensioner) you lose all rights to healthcare in the UK. If you are not resident in the UK you are not entitled to use a E111/EHIC that was issued in the UK - you are supposed to return it.

If you come to live in Spain and are not entitled to an EHIC, E121 or E106, and you are not paying into the Spanish social security system then you have NO health cover at all - not even for emergency treatment.

The only option is private medical insurance (which is relatively cheap in Spain).

If you do not take that option you are effectively self insuring and will have to pay for any treatment you require.

That's the situation - it may not be fair but that's the way it is.

Apart from paying for the treatment in Spain about the only option is to return to the UK and hope that you can persuade the local health authority to pay for the treatment within a reasonable timescale.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

OK, to redress the balance for you (maybe you'll feel differently when you've got relatives on NHS waiting lists or heaven forbid are on one yourself when you run back to the UK):
Sure! Go for it! Go back to the UK (where you no longer have an address and haven't been contributing for years but what the hell), go and see your doctor, make out you live there permanently, get free treatment on the NHS, get cured, return to your home in Spain. No problem at all!
There...is that better?

Re: Radiotherapy
 

To clarify before i get beaten with sticks. i did not say the original poster was right or wrong. I just thought it would of been nice for someone who has the knowledge to give an opinion. x

Re: Radiotherapy
 

Not sure I follow.
I have the knowledge (the OP is no longer legitimately entitled to healthcare in the UK) and I gave my opinion.

Re: Radiotherapy
 

You sure did!!!