Lynn R

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend's hospital admission, hope she is OK now. Thank you for getting back to the forum with your thoughts, it is very sensible of you to take a step back and think things through. If you give it a few more years in the UK until you are both well established in your careers, and build up a solid record of NI contributions, as things stand at the moment you could then get an S1 form from the DWP so that the UK Govt would pay for Spanish state health care for both of you for up to 2 years (but you would still be subject to the same restrictions as all Spanish citizens are on the type of treatments and drugs that are available under their system). However, who knows what might happen if the EU referendum goes ahead. We all live in uncertain times which makes planning for the future very difficult.

Good luck to both of you.

sean14592

Thanks very much,

I think it's something we will still aim to do, I'm in the process of starting a new online business (for holiday rentals properties would you believe it), so we'll see how the future goes.

The only two things that are stopping us at the moment are qualifications and medication, so I'll give them some length research before we go any further.


Once again, thank you everyone for replying, this is a great forum and you guys are such a big help!
Sean

agoreira

Lady here that is going the other way, has finally given up on Spain and moving to the States. Very sad state of affairs, the brain drain is unstoppable.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/p...science-policy

steviedeluxe

Ah, the old "brain-drain" scare you keep repeating..
Appears to be of far greater proportions in another country we know well (in fact we've been told to worry about it since at least the 70s)

http://www.theguardian.com/global-de...ills-shortages

Still I'm sure those Brits who end up working in Spain for Telefonica, British Aerospace or startup companies like Softonic, will appreciate the space that has been left for their "brains".

Dick Dasterdly

The usual biased view from Stevie and the Guardian, though I see you've been busy googling again Stevie to dredge up this old article from last year.

It only refers to possible future shortages, typical Guardian scaremongering.

There is absolutely no comparison with the Spanish crisis where people are emigrating out of sheer desperation.
In contrast the article states that most Brits are emigrating because they can afford to, no doubt many looking for the benefits of a warmer climate amongst other motives.

The skill exodus is pretty much one way traffic out of Spain, sadly much of it lost forever, as there is little sign of any significant improvement for quite a while to come.

The UK is still able to cherry pick to fill many skill vacancies as demonstrated by the recent medical recruitments from Spain itself as well as the rest of Europe and further afield.

Never mind Stevie keep on dredging and googling, the law of averages states that you'll surely come up with something feasible one day.

Lynn R

They'd better keep on doing it, there was an item on this morning's BBC Breakfast programme about the chronic shortage of A&E consultants. Apparently hardly any British doctors in training want to take up this speciality because the salaries don't compensate them sufficiently for the extra stress and long hours compared to easier fields of medicine or surgery.

me me

Good points, the Spanish are leaving because Spain has not been to kind them, the Brits move to Spain because the UK has been kind enough to them having provided them with savings etc to be able to afford to move,

Comparing the two types of people leaving both countries is a non starter as they have nothing in common.

steviedeluxe

It's often been said that the nhs in London would collapse overnight without the huge percentage of doctors and skilled medical staff who originate from overseas. Where the local doctors have gone is an interesting question. No doubt some have decided to earn mega-bucks in the Middle East or the US, but many may just have gone private or relocated to a cheaper part of the UK?

steviedeluxe

It seems a lot of Brit professionals have to go abroad to further their career. From the Guardian link I posted

Dick Dasterdly

AS previously stated, absolutely no comparison to the desperate situation in Spain.

However if I was you Stevie I would be beginning to have serious concerns with this situation, most especially in Madrid.

"SPANISH HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS HIT HISTORICAL HIGHS ON AUSTERITY."

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/08/26/...42_400959.html

"Budgetary restrictions and the laying off of healthcare personnel have resulted in a record number of people awaiting surgery in Spain: 571,395, a 6.4-percent increase in a little over a year. Average waiting times have also gone up from 76 days to 100, the worst figures since the Health Ministry started recording these data in 2004.

Furthermore, the number of patients waiting more than six months to be admitted to hospital has risen seven percent, despite this timeframe being the maximum permitted by law for certain types of procedure"

"In MADRID, waiting lists have grown by a record 17.5 percent, which regional health chief Javier Fernández-Lasquetty directly attributed to strikes by health workers against privatization in the region's service.

Cutbacks in the central government and regional health departments began in 2010, with the reduction in healthcare spending since that year now totaling 6.875 billion euros. But the impact has been uneven, with regions such as Extremadura, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Aragon among those which have cut the deepest. The Basque Country, which is considered to be the least inclined to implement such austerity measures, has cut back on health spending by four percent this year.

"Without medical professionals, and without means, the health system cannot keep up," said Tomás Toranzo, vice secretary of the CESM medical union."

Westonman

Not sure if this is the right thread for this but thought it might benefit anyone who is considering moving to Spain in the next six months or so.
I have just got off the phone having rung the Overseas Health Team 01912181999...
I was requesting a forecast for myself and my wife to see if we would qualify for an S1 as early retirees based on our National Insurance contributions to enable us to register for Healthcare in Spain.
Besides being very polite and pleasant to deal with they explained that as from the 1st April 2014 S1`s will NO longer be issued to early retirement persons wishing to reside abroad within the Countries that an S1 is currently available for.
This is regardless of their NI Contributions to date. Apparently we will be ok when we reach pensionable age but in the meantime will have to seek private medical cover if we have not applied for the S1 before next April.
In our case we have both paid enough contributions to be granted two years cover but must apply four weeks before our moving date, which means the pressure is on to progress our move fairly quickly!!
there is no mention of this on any web site I could find and thought it might be worth putting out there..

mogsmum

This has been on the UK web site but with no Date and we were told it was from July 2014 thanks we will be moving soon so will apply now

Neptuno

Don't know if I'm duplicating here, but one thing to consider if you do come here is the inheritance laws, you would have to register your partnership, or you wouldn't have the same rights as spouses have. This could be a problem when inheriting assets, as the law is so different.