Spanish Medical Bill - Help please!

Caz3121

because you did not have a valid EHIC card at the hospital they will likely have treated you as a private patient.
https://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/countryguide/Pages/healthcareinSpain.aspx
even in a public hospital ensure you have a valid EHIC and double-check you are not treated as a private patient.
Travel insurance would likely have cost you under £10
With no EHIC and no insurance, you cannot assume you will get free treatment

melanzana

Renew your EHIC, send a copy of it with an apologetic letter and see what happens.

I realise you don't want a lecture here, but ALWAYS get travel insurance. It might seem unnecessary with the EHIC but if you need to be repatriated by air ambulance, or if you died abroad, isn't it worth it. Costs a few pounds per trip.

Itsryanjc

I will now DEFINITELY get travel insurance. If anything it’s a valuable lesson learned.

It’s my own fault, I just don’t have the money to pay it. I will renew my EHIC and send it with an apologetic response and see what they say. If not... I guess there’s no trips to Spain anymore (once I get a job!)

zagfles

A lot of travel insurances insist you have an EHIC as well and use it where possible. So get an EHIC now, it's free, and think about travel insurance for your next trip.

hollydays

If it was a minor issue the usual thing is to go to doctor not a&e surely?

worried_jim

hollydays wrote: »

If it was a minor issue the usual thing is to go to doctor not a&e surely?

Skanky lady of the night and a back alley perhaps?

Voyager2002

Itsryanjc wrote: »

If not... I guess there’s no trips to Spain anymore (once I get a job!)

The legal processes available to the hospital work all over Europe, so it could turn into a debt here rather than simply one in Spain.

hollydays

See this about a prc
http://healthcareinspain.eu/visiting-spain/#ehic
But it doesnt seem to cover an expired card.

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2579.aspx?CategoryID=70

agrinnall

The EHIC doesn't have a start date on it, but it doesn't take much to work out what it was from the expiry date. You didn't have a valid card on the date of your treatment so I don't think you'll be able to claim that any of the cost of your treatment should be covered.

Your options are to not pay and risk a CCJ, dispute the amount of the charge with the hospital, or offer to pay in instalments.

Hermione_Granger

As you didn't have an EHIC card, you would be billed as a private patient and although you may only have seen the doctor/consultant for a few minutes, there is probably a fixed charge for this.
You say that you were given a prescription. Did you pay for the medication when you collected it? If not, this would also be a private prescription which might be included in the bill you have received and some medication can be extremely expensive when not subsidised by the local health service.