European Health Card

As you are resident in Spain and part of the Spanish health service your EHIC issued by the UK is no longer valid.

Depending on your circumstances you may be able to obtain a replacement issued by Spain but otherwise you should purchase travel insurance, not a bad idea in any event really. Do not use your EHIC, you are no longer entitled.

The OP never said they were going to use their EHIC in Spain, in fact they stated they had their SIP Cards and were actually enquiring about what to do for cover when returning to the U.K.

The question was "anybody have any advice?".

Accurate advice was provided.

Your point is ?

Only part of your reply was accurate advice, the rest was unnecessary regarding their U.K. EHIC as they were aware of this and were asking for advice on the subject of periodic returns to the U.K.

We have just gone through this..

Just in case it makes a difference, note that I am over UK retirement age and my wife has her SIP card as my dependant. On our S1 letters, which we got from DWP in Newcastle, it clearly states that we remain entitled to full NHS cover in the UK.

For anywhere else in Europe, we have been issued EHIC  cards, again by DWP in  Newcastle. They look exactly the same as the regular ones,  but cannot  be applied for online - only by telephone and only from 2 to 3 months after receipt of the Spanish SIP card (to give the papework time to filter through from Spain.)

This is our experience and may not apply to all, of course.

The OP stated that they return to the UK and travel in Spain and Europe. They didn't mention using the EHIC in Spain and neither did I, only you did that.

I advised, as requested, that they might be able to acquire a new, valid, EHIC issued by Spain. I went on to advise regarding travel insurance and finally advised that they should not use their current EHIC, as unlike you, I was not aware that the OP knew this. I've just read the post again and again I can't see where they say that they were aware of this as you claim.

Again, advice was requested and given, none of which was unnecessary. You seem to be introducing narrative that didn't exist, why?

If you take the time to read my posts I said "The OP never said they were going to use their EHIC in Spain", you introduced the rather forceful "Do not use your EHIC, you are no longer entitled". It was clear from their post that having obtained their SIP Cards they needed to do something to have valid EHIC Cards for their travels outside Spain and that is what they were looking advice on.

You are the only one mentioning use of the EHIC in Spain.

You say "rather forceful", I prefer straightforward. This was to cover their travels in Europe, as they mentioned.

I did not read anything that made such a clear distinction that being in possession of a SIP they knew that they had to "do something to have valid EHIC cards". On the contrary, they were asking if they had to do something. Hence my straightforward and accurate advice.

I have read all the posts again in case I've missed something or added something that didn't exist, but can see no inaccuracies between what I have read and what I have written. 

Spain no longer issue expat residents with TSEs - their equivalent of the EHIC. That system changed some years ago.

What you have to do is apply for an EHIC-E from the UK. The covers emergency treatment in EU countries other than Spain, and also covers you on trips back to the UK.