Hi,
My name is Alix, I?m British and I?ve been living in Madrid for 2 months.  I worked during July, but as I?m a teacher I?m now on holiday.  My boss has as yet not drawn up a contract but promises to do so by the end of the month.  The work starts again in September.
I?ve got epilepsy and need to see a doctor soon, but my centro de salud will not give me the tarjeta sanitoria.  I have a numero seguridad social and empadronamiento and I have an appointment for NIE but not until December? I can?t wait until then for a prescription, I need one this week.
Yesterday I went back to the centro de salud with my new empadronamiento certificate and SS number but was told that I can?t see a doctor because I couldn?t produce a ?nomino? (what is that? A contract?) and she kept saying something that sounded like ?COBRA? but when I asked her to explain it she just shrugged her shoulders and looked exasperated and she wouldn?t write it down.
Now, I do speak a bit of Spanish but I?m a little hard of hearing, so I find these sessions with the unhelpful lady rather stressful as obviously, epilepsy is rather unpleasant.  She gave me two forms, one asking for permission to check my records and one asking for my financial details and income, which I can?t really give at the moment without a contract.
All the sites I look at, including this one, and all my Spanish friends, tell me that I only need the SS number and empadronamiento to get the health card and see a doctor?. If anyone can tell me where I?m going wrong here I would be very grateful indeed, thanks in advance if you can,
Alix

Alix Hi,

Firstly, do you have an EHIC Card… if not, for heavens sake why not?

Use of EHIC Card…

Your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will enable you to access state provided healthcare at a reduced cost or sometimes free. It will cover you for treatment that is needed in order to allow you to continue your stay until your planned return. It also covers you for treatment of pre-existing medical conditions and for routine maternity care provided the reason for your visit is not specifically to give birth.

The EHIC Card enables you to use the Spanish Health service as per this page from the NHS website…

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/countryguide/Pages/healthcareinSpain.aspx

Also you may be able to get some professional help from the British Consulate in Malaga; The UK Pensions and NI office have reps at the Consulate; again this info from the website…

The Pension, Benefit & Healthcare Team
British Consulate
Calle Mauricio Moro Pareto, 2
Edificio Eurocom
29006 Malaga
Telephone: 0034 952 35 23 00

For more information, you can also contact the Spanish Health Ministry (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo) at:
Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo
Paseo del Prado 18-20,
28014 Madrid
Telephone: 0034 901 400 100
Website: http://www.msc.es

If it is just a prescription you need you could try taking the packaging from your current medication or the information leaflet about the product to your local farmacia; they might well be able to dispense the same or similar medication without a prescription.

As a last resort; when you left the UK did you cancel your registration with your NHS Doctor? If not you could maybe ask one of your friends in the UK to visit the surgery to pick up a repeat prescription and then have your friend mail the medication to you.

This is just a guess but it is possible that you have run into problems here because I suspect you have not been paying into the Spanish Social Security system; without a contract, you should be registered as autonomo and be paying in something in the region of 260 Euros per month.

Anyway hope some of this helps…

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Hi, thanks for all that info… i don’t have an EHIC, in fact I’d never heard of it before.  You’d think my British doctor might have mentioned it eh?  I was only there for a week after being in Ecuador for a year.  Last time I lived in Spain you could but epilepsy medication in farmacias, but now you can’t.
I’ll check out all those numbers, but is there any point registering as autonomo if I’m getting a contract?  I still don’t know what to do with this form asking for my income.
Also, I’m not going back to the Uk in the forseeable future, does that make a difference to the EHIC?

If you’re heading away on holidays don’t forget to apply or renew your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) formerly your E111 card.
try this site for uk if get some two pick it up for you
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/Applyingandrenewing.aspx

be told befor it will not cover you if issused in spain for Spanish area .... ( not 100 % sure on this ) <—-can some back up on this please
have private Healthcare here , so real dont know the system for public are Travel Insurance 9 think have two pay the frist few hunderd Euros and , many not cover epilepsy as on going med problem ....

Jurdy

Alix…

Really think you need to talk to the folks in Malaga since this is obviously a problem area.
Not sure of the rules about obtaining an EHIC in view of the fact that you were in Ecuador for a year… I guess it all depends on whether you have UK Nat. Ins. cover… still you say you have a UK doc so I guess you should be ok.
You say you hadn’t heard of the EHIC Card… it used to be called The E111 if that helps!
By the way… Nomina in this context probably does have some contractual meaning, and cobra… well I guess that could actually be cober or cover…

Jurdyr…

Re The EHIC card… we recently had a bit of a problem. Since OH travels regularly back to the UK we haven’t joined the Spanish Health System (Stupid I know especially since as a pensioner I get free cover and wifey can piggyback onto my membership).

Wifey had an accident when out walking two of our dogs and fell and badly fractured her hip / femur. She was taken off to hospital by ambulance and had an op to fit an artificial hip joint the following day. We produced her EHIC card at the time of her admission. During her week stay in hospital I had a letter from the hospital stating that her EHIC card had expired some five months previously. I got in touch with Pensions and NI in Newcastle requesting a replacement. The address they had on record was our old UK address which is no longer valid and they could only post to a UK address. We supplied the address of a family member and the new card arrived in one week. We supplied the revised information to the Hospital and presumably they found it acceptable because since the op she has been back for a check up, additional pain meds and dressing changes were carried out by our village doc who also accepted the new EHIC card. This was way back in April so I guess it’s all ok…

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Hi Alix,

If you get really stuck, pay to see a GP, he’ll be able to give you a prescription. Take a look at the Sanitas site for a list of medical centres where you are. Ask how much it’ll cost, but I’d imagine around 40? for a GP. You’ll have to pay the full amount for your medication, but at least you will have it. I’d also try asking in a pharmacy because they do seem to sell many drugs over the counter which specifically say they are for prescription only.

By the way, your NOMINA is your pay, COBRAR is what you do when you get paid.

thanks everyone for al that info.  I did try calling Malaga but just got messages, the most helpful told me to call the number for a provisional EHIC, but I got put on hold for so long I gave up.  I guess I’ll just have to pay to see a GP, just bad timing for me finincialy.  It’ll all be fine when I’ve been paid end of September.
Anyway, I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me, thanks again
alx

Surely by her saying ‘cobrar’ she meant you would have to pay as currently you are not automatically covered as you are not working and making contributions - just having the number and padron does not cover you unless you are either working self employed (nomino) or an employer is making contribs for you.
EU Persons here on holiday must always bring an EHIC (the health card) with them from their home country to access free health cover.
In other circumstances there are plenty of clinics who will treat you but you will need to pay.