URGENT

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
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waterlily
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URGENT

Postby waterlily » Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:47 am

Hi
Can anybody help please.
Friends of ours have been living here for approx 4 years. They have transferred all their Medical requirements to Andalucia (They are a retired couple). The husband has become seriously ill and although he has had extensive stays in both Costa del Sol Hosp and Malaga Hosp, they cannot find out what the problem is. Both hospitals have run untold cat scans, x-rays, blood tests etc but to no avail. He has found it very difficult to cope with for numerous reasons and has now decided to fly back to England today. He will admitted straight away as his condition is deteriorating rapidly.
Can anybody please, please tell me if he will still be entitled to free health care once he returns to the UK. I cannot go into any further detail regarding the 'Health Documentation' he transferred here as its all a bit of a panic station as I am trying to book flights as I type this.
Anything, however vague would be very much appreciated.
Thank you so much.

Waterlily

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Postby Marina » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:24 am

We were told by the DHSS that if we still had a UK address we would be entitled to health care.
Hope he gets the help he needs.

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Postby curatokid » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:30 am

I understand that under the new EC regulations pensioners are entitled to FULL medical care in any EC country so would assume all OK in Uk. A pensioner normaly has an E111+ card to indicate they are pensioners and not the normal E111 .

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Re: URGENT

Postby Bongtrees » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:33 am

waterlily wrote:Hi
Can anybody help please.
He has found it very difficult to cope with for numerous reasons and has now decided to fly back to England today. He will admitted straight away as his condition is deteriorating rapidly.Can anybody please, please tell me if he will still be entitled to free health care once he returns to the UK. I cannot go into any further detail regarding the 'Health Documentation' he transferred here as its all a bit of a panic station as I am trying to book flights as I type this.Anything, however vague would be very much appreciated.Thank you so much.Waterlily
I am sorry your friend is ill and you must not panic.

Firstly I dont see how someone who is very ill will be allowed on a the plane, hopefully he is not as bad as you think.

You say he will be admitted immediately he arrives, does that mean a NHS hospital is expecting him?

Mike

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luffes
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Postby luffes » Sun Oct 02, 2005 10:26 am

It would depend on whether they ever applied for an E121 from Newcastle. If they have then they would not automatically be entitled to free healthcare in the UK, as this would have moved to Spain.

If they are simply going back for the healthcare, they would not be entitled. However, if they were moving back there to reside then they would, provided they notified Newcastle of the change. This can be done in advance so that it is in place when they get there.

Hope this helps

Guest

Health

Postby Guest » Sun Oct 02, 2005 10:25 pm

For the record, if you were born in the UK and still have your birth certificate or a copy, you are automatically entitled to all medical treatment in the UK, I mean, how could you not be??

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Health Care in UK

Postby mark » Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:19 am

This is taken directly from the form sent to me by Newcastle:

If you or any of your dependants return to the UK on a visit you will only be entitled to NHS medical teratment if you fall ill or have an accident during your visit.

Planned treatment

If you or any of your dependants, want to come back to the UK for specific NHS medical treatment you must ask at the office which registered your form E121 for a form E112 certificate concerning the return of the right to sickness or maternity benefits currently being provided. It will be for that office to decide on the issue of a form E112

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waterlily
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Postby waterlily » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:17 pm

Firstly can I thank everybody who replied to this thread. Our friend returned to the UK yesterday and was diagnosed immediatley, unfortunatley with Cancer. Not having been here 2 minutes myself, I would not dream of passing any comments regarding the Medical Facilities in Andalucia, however it has bought forward a lot of concerns.
Our friend has been in Hospital, for approx 4 months (In and out) with no diagnosis, despite lengthy examinations.
Should I be concerned or should I just accept that it is 'One of those things'

Waterlily

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Postby hillybilly » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:39 pm

I'm very sorry for your friend's illness and I hope that treatment is successful.
It is certainly very worrying to hear that no diagnosis was forthcoming while in Spain especially with something as serious as cancer where time is of the essence.
I've (touchwood) never had to use Spanish medical care and I had thought, until now, that it was as good, if not better, than anywhere else in western Europe. Now I'm wondering!
Best wishes to your friend and his family.

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Postby MaggieMay » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:39 pm

Firstly sorry to hear about your friends diagnosis, but sincerely hope that he now receives the necessary treatment to aid recovery.
Not knowing the facts about your friends case (and not asking) I can understand your concerns on how it turned out for him regarding his medical care in Spain and lack of speedy diagnosis.
I have great faith in the Spanish health care system. (Though I do have private medical cover) Thankfully I have not had to put it to any major test, but have known people that have.(Using the state system) Certainly a couple of people I know feel they wouldn't be here today had it not been for their treatment in Spain. But for every good story there will always be another that is not so good.
The main thing of course is that your friend is now being correctly treated, albeit he seems to have gone through a long period of stress and uncertainty. Hope all goes well.
I wear it well...........

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Postby Lorraine - Mijas » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:02 pm

Dear Waterlily,
I personally do not think you should panic as to the ability and quality of treatment in Andalucia, it is sad that your friend was not diagnosed sooner but hopefully now they are back in the UK it may be feel less traumatic for them, as even with good Spanish language I'm sure it was quite frightening.
I have seen treatment for cancer both in Spain and in the UK, the first being an English friend who was a Spanish Citizen who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the Canary isle's, he has had intensive treatment in Sevilla, which I believe is a specialist centre for Cancer. Despite having been incredibly poorly , he could not speak highly enough of the treatment and care he received and although he has to make frequent visits back to Sevilla for tests he is looking extremely well and is well on the way to recovery.
in the UK, several years back, my mother in law was unwell for many weeks and eventually admitted to hospital, where she had 2 weeks of tests and full scans, all of which came back clear, on the 3rd week in hospital , we where finally told by the consultant that my mother in law had terminal cancer that had spread to many area's of her body and that it was beyond a treatable stage, of course we where very angry that they had not found this with all the scans. Hospital staff told us that scans can be very unreliable and that you can scan a patient and have a clear result and then 30 Min's later you can a completely different result!! This they said was particularly true with cancer moving up to the brain, which would explain how she would have unexpected slurred speech which came and went . I do not know how true this is as when we tried to get more answers from the hospital our mother in laws medical notes mysteriously disappeared.
Despite knowing that treatment here can be excellent, If I where in that position, I'd still feel better to be in my home country having treatment, not for the treatment itself but for my own peace of mind and security (silly maybe). I wish your friend well and hope it wont put you off being here, there are good and bad experiences in all countries.
Lorraine

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Postby Beachcomber » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:47 pm

I have personal of experience of exactly the same situation but the other way round.

A friend had been ill in England with a sore throat, loss of speech and breathlessness for several months and was continually fobbed off by his GP.

He arrived in Spain, was taken ill and rushed into hospital where he was immediately diagnosed with cancer of the throat. He received first class treatment for ten days and only when the doctors considered that he was stable enough was he allowed to leave hospital and return to the UK in possession, I might add, of a highly critical and damning report from the surgeon about his previous treatment, or lack of it.

I hope your friend responds to his treatment.

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Postby katy » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:43 pm

I have heard some really good reports of Spanish Health Service and also some bad reports. Think they are a bit overwhelmed now. My husband only waited 5 days to see a specialist (4 years ago) but I had to wait over 6 months to see one (I didn't, went private).

A dear friend who died on new years day was treated very badly and shook my confidence in the system here. He was 72 and lived alone and after having emergency treatment for his breathing at the Costa del Sol hospital in Dec (had been suffering from Flu' since Nov according to his GP!) I was asked to go an collect him at 10pm on a cold rainy night. they told me he had pneumonia (?) but would be ok!! despite the fact that he was too weak to walk. He was not eating and was delirious a lot of the night, sent for ambulance and they again sent him out, he collapsed the following night and was on life support for about ten days before he died. We just knew he was seriously ill but they didn't want to know.

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Postby MaggieMay » Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:26 pm

Oh dear :cry:

Time for another good story about the health service I think.
I wear it well...........

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Postby Bongtrees » Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:03 am

waterlily wrote:Firstly can I thank everybody who replied to this thread. Our friend returned to the UK yesterday and was diagnosed immediatley, unfortunatley with Cancer.
Should I be concerned or should I just accept that it is 'One of those things'

Waterlily
Waterlily

Your account of your friends experience throws up many questions.

I for one would be interested to know the time frame of yesterdays events.... time of flight even the name of the hospital your friend was admitted to because if any of my friends got ill I would sure like to be able to tell them to go there as most of them say nothing but bad things about the UK NHS. I am not being facetious either.

From my own experience I can only say good things about the Spanish state health system with the exception of the actual conditions in the rooms with noise and visitors day and night, but it is the Spanish way and I just had to deal with it.

There was never any question of my not receiving the newest and indeed most expensive drugs available.


Mike

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Postby Bongtrees » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:22 am

cannydanny wrote:

Bongtrees, be careful here, Stan the man has been wiped and banned for daring to question the timing of these events, there are apparently now three of us!
Danny

I had not realised others had asked questions as was out til late yesterday.

I know must be a difficult job to moderate any forum I am grateful that someone is willing to do it because it is easy it is for a forum to disintegrate. I live near Valencia and this forum is the only one I have found whose members give good, current, well meaning advice. The sniping is often very funny and I don't see any maliciousness in asking an honest question.

What I do find strange is the noticeable trend in forums, expat sites and papers to contain much about what is bad in Spain and the Spanish health system and how much better it is in the UK.

The now defunct Valencia-expats site was a prime example. It was plagued by people with multi identities, making up stories and replying to themselves. People claimed that the health service had collapsed, people waiting in corridors for days, no treatment, to raining non stop for 10 weeks (we wish!) to minus 20 degrees for 6 months each year.

Mike

cannydanny

Postby cannydanny » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:21 pm

waterlily wrote:Firstly can I thank everybody who replied to this thread. Our friend returned to the UK yesterday and was diagnosed immediatley, unfortunatley with Cancer. Not having been here 2 minutes myself, I would not dream of passing any comments regarding the Medical Facilities in Andalucia, however it has bought forward a lot of concerns.
Our friend has been in Hospital, for approx 4 months (In and out) with no diagnosis, despite lengthy examinations.
Should I be concerned or should I just accept that it is 'One of those things'

Waterlily
Waterlily, I'm truly glad to hear that your friend is not in any immediate damger, thank god for the national health service, did they actually diagnose the problem?

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waterlily
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Postby waterlily » Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:59 pm

Hi

We recieved the very sad news this moring that our friend only has a few days to live. As you can imagine we are pretty devastated.
What I cannot comprehend is that he has been diagnosed with Colon Cancer. Is this not detectable here in Spain? For Four months he has been under investigation and nothing. I am fully aware that some cancers are not detectable. but this is of a type that is.
I have great concerns now regarding my families health.

Thank you for all your postings I have appreciated the opinions and well wishes that you have sent

Waterlily

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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:18 pm

What awful news for you.
At the very least questions should be asked of the medical service where your friend was "treated" in Spain. Mis- or even non-diagnoses do happen the world over but that is no excuse or consolation for those involved here. Had the cancer been diagnosed sooner, would there have been more hope?
Sincerest condolences.

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waterlily
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Postby waterlily » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:11 pm

Hi Hillbilly

Apparently, and I do say apparently, we have since learned that if the diagnosis had of been made at the begining of his symptoms, it would have been possible for our friend to have made a recovery, albeit with the aid of a colostomy. Unfortunatley our friend died yesterday, but I'm sure both himself and his wife could of lived with the trials and tribulations of having to take care of himself with an artificial aid, however troublesome it may of been.
Funny thing was, his favourite all time saying was 'Hindsight is a cheap commodity, I prefer expensive foresight' !!!

Thanks again

Waterlily


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