Disgusted with hospital in Torrevieja.

What exactly are you disgusted with?

If you have something to complain about, complain to the hospital. 

Hello

 Several things about your post concern me. You say you 'tried to explain' to the consultant...Did he understand what you said & did you understand sufficiently, his reply, you said he ..mumbled something?

 You say it would 'probably' take 2/3 months to get a hospital appt but  when you  see your Dr.& explain the situation, they may be able to speed up a referral. 

 You seem quite pleased with the treatment received so far , so  like the previous poster said, I'm a bit unsure about what is disgusting, maybe taking a translator with you might solve  your problem & help clarify things.

Cheers

Elinspain

I am in a catch 22 scenario at the moment having private health insurance costing around 100 euro a month for a 62 year old male with no previous medical conditions as I am looking into at applying to the Spanish health system for 60 euro a month, so looking at the pro`s and con`s and reading post like yours I feel would I be better staying private, although having private health insurance over the last 2 years I have never used the private system, but a friend of mine has often and gets excellent service from the private health system. Getting back to Torrevieja Hospital, my 76 years old neighbour had a fall and broke her hip bone on Wednesday 15th December, the ambulance arrived quickly and that evening she was operated on, on visiting her the next day Thursday she was in good spirits and being well cared for, As she has no family in Spain, another kind neighbour who visited left his contact number with the hospital, to his surprise on the Friday he received a phone call saying our elderly neighbour would be brought home that afternoon and could someone be there to help, so around 3pm she arrived home on a trolley with other people in the ambulance transport vehicle with only a driver!!! no assistant!!! The driver/attendant done brilliant until he had to transfer our neighbour from the trolley bed to a wheelchair, then he asked for help, help was given but our neighbour did cry out in pain in being moved!!! she was then wheeled inside and again help was given to transfer her to her bed, another cry of pain, the driver/attendant then handed over the/her paperwork and medication and left. We read the paperwork and this entailed giving medication and pain killing injections, also when to make future appointments at our local health centre, There was/is no aftercare/home visits offered, it was down to us the neighbours!!!! One particular neighbour decided to move in and look after her, he has been fantastic, I also would like to say our elderly neighbour has also been a good patient and have to tell you she is up and about on crutches/walking frame for days now and even had to attend our local health centre yesterday Twice!!! and all is looking good, so a big well done to Dorian and Gavin the neighbour, who has done a excellent job looking after her for nearly 4 weeks, cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving, also he has kept himself busy by decorating and D,I ,Y jobs around the house. The story to this is would I be better off staying private. thank you for reading my post and your thoughts would be gratefully received. stay safe and healthy my friends. 

State provided medical care in Spain is simply medical care. I don't know what your private policy might provide in the way of after care, you'd have to check with them. The looking after is for family and loved ones, if there's no more medical treatment needed, off you go home. You can have injections administered at the health centre or at home but the centre nurse/doctor has to be informed that the patient is not capable of doing it for themself. This lady's neighbours deserve a real pat on the back for stepping up. What you all did, especially the chap that moved in with her, is wonderful. The future for those of us who don't have family or close friends who can help out nor the funds to get carers in when things go really wrong is bleak. I receommend be prepared, save as much as you can for a rainy day and then spend it on getting help when you need it.

Whether you stay private or go for state medical care might depend on if you have in home after care in your policy if needed. The monthly difference of 40€ would get you about 1.5 hours private care, the usual carer's hourly fee was 25€ when I checked so after a year you'd be able to bank 18 hours care.

With a possible diagnosis of cancer I can’t understand why you didn’t take a translator with you in the first place, you state that “he mumbled something “ if you had taken a translator they would most likely been able to explain to you what he said and saved you most of the problems you now face. Good luck.

This Dermatologist is a truly horrible man, my doctor at the Salud totally agrees with me and he has worked at the hospital.   I have had similar problems with this Dermatologist and my doctor sent me to complain at Torrevieja hospital.   I did this and they brought the consultant down to see me.  He told me off and said he would decide when I had my cancer treatment done, this was last year.   I had two lumps both cancerous and one very dangerous, that is the one he had left [after seeing it] and was going to leave for another three months of another year.   I went to Quiron hospital and had it removed that week for 246 Euros or thereabouts - at Quiron I was told it was a serious type of cancer and needed moving immediately, that was two days after the Dermatologist at Torrevieja saw it!   I would recommend you go to Quiron for Dermatology as the present Dermatologist at Torrevieja Hospital is the only one, his attitude leaves a lot to be desired, really really horrible man, no bedside manner at all.   Also, it would not matter if you had a translator with you as I speak Spanish!

Thanks for your post Andrea. Sometimes people think that all problems are down to communicating in a foreign language. Of course, this is relevant, but the way a doctor treats you, and the way they speak to you is clear in any language. Unfortunately some of them are totally lacking in empathy and can actually be downright rude. Obviously there are good and bad medics everywhere, but when a patient complains we should not immediately blame that patient for the way they were treated. I am glad you got it sorted privately, and feel very sorry for those that can’t afford it. The price you quoted though, I feel, is quite reasonable for your peace of mind. All the best.

Hiya just thought I would comment on this. Around 3 years ago we lived in torrevieja full time and suddenly I was very ill and went to quiron hospital as I had private medical insurance. They quickly realised I was very poorly and thought I had chrons disease and would need a lot of tests then unfortunately my health insurance refused to pay for any medical treatment only basic I stayed at quiron for a night privately and cost over a thousand pounds for a night as I was so poorly. They then informed me that it would be best if I flew home to England as I hadn't been in Spain long around 6 months and it would be easier to go home. I then arrived in England and they were utterly useless 3 years later England told me to sue them as they made so many mistakes in my care and them mistakes I have to live with forever from giving me the wrong medication and making me septic to saying they won't give me tube feeding till I was 5 stone 12 as that was critical unfortunately I did hit under that weight and was very ill but even then they just tube feed me and thought I could survive being tube feed the rest of my life. I then went private in the UK and thankfully I am recovering but honestly if I had the choice again I would have stayed in Spain and payed for whatever quiron wanted to do. The night I was there was expectional and they came in every hour while I was there. 

Hi Maria,

Thanks for your post. When you said that England told you to sue ‘them’ for making mistakes, were they referring to the treatment in a U.K. hospital? We have a problem in the Torrevieja health district at the moment, since October when they got rid of Ribera Salud. We have recently used Quiron A&E because of this. Without health insurance it is expensive, but health is the most important thing. Glad that you are much better. All the best for the future.