Access to local doctors

Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:51pm

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Joined: 29 Jul 2018

Hi,

We are a retired couple and planning a 6 months stay in Calpe over the winter, is it possible to register with a local doctor, any advice would be welcome.

Thanks

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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:40pm

Stephanie86

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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:40pm

One doesn’t ‘register’ with a local doctor in quite the same way as in UK. If you are not resident and relying on your EHIC card - which technically I understand is for short periods only for tourists - then if a situation arises you can go to the local medical centre and ask if they will see you, which they usually will. Otherwise you may have to pay privately, or of course, you can take out insurance. Some medical centres will issue a ‘temporary’ SIP card, which entitles you to use the Spanishhealthcare system, but one is ‘allocated’ a doctor, whose details will be written on the card. I also think that after 6 months you would be required to register as fiscally resident here - so do be careful - I can’t remember the exact number of days but I think it’s 183 - check on the UK government website which will have all details.

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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 3:49pm

Bunilman

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Location: Jalon / Xaló

Joined: 29 Jul 2018

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 3:49pm

Thank you for you prompt reply, we will be staying for 174 days in total. UK will only supply 3 months prescriptions, we were wondering how we could get a doctor to prescribe for the additional time.

Regards

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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 4:29pm

jimtaylor

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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 4:29pm

You can buy the vast majority of prescribed medications over the counter at a chemist, and they're usually a lot cheaper than the UK prescription charge.

If you're planning on staying after the end of March, and there's a hard Brexit, then the EHIC will be redundant piece of plastic.