It’s that time of the year, when we undergo our annual medical tune-ups. As usual, we tell all (see our 2022 dentist visit and the 2023 roundup)! Spain, as it happens, is reputed to have some of the best healthcare in Europe, so we weren’t worried. And everything went swimmingly, in spite of a few hiccups at the beginning. To wit, getting appointments: some of the places we contacted never responded, and most of the clinics we found would only allow us to book online with a Spanish health insurance number. Which, naturally, we don’t have. But after wandering into a dental clinic in our neighbourhood, we realised that if you show up in person, they more or less have to deal with you!
Dentist
Our annual trip to the dentist was a lot better in Seville than in Rome. For one thing, it seems that there is a dental clinic of some sort or other on every corner in Seville. And for another, it would be hard to be worse than our Roman experience. The guy there had the bedside manner (and technique) of a welder, and we left that clinic with clean but aching teeth and gums. Seville was a happy contrast.
We showed up at a nearby clinic and booked appointments for cleanings and checkups for a week later. (In Oxford, by contrast, last October, we were told the first appointment we could have was in seven months!) As it happened, on the night before our dentist’s appointments John broke a tooth. When we went the next morning and told them about it, they offered to fit him with a temporary crown then and there. Ten days later they put in the permanent one. The cost was €580, about half or a third of what you would pay in the U.S. And the cleanings went swimmingly as well, again at a reasonable cost (€70 each).
Laurel’s teeth were – as usual – much-praised. But she received a vigorous lesson in flossing from Jema the hygienist, and, when she came back with John for his crown, she also received a spot check-up during which she was shown every speck of food that she had missed. (To be fair, she hadn’t prepared for the test, or even known there would be one; she was just pulled out of John’s exam room…).
Annual physicals
This was a little more complicated. But once again, we found a primary care clinic and showed up in person with our passports and had our appointment a week later. We got the usual check-up (blood pressure, etc.: (€60 each) and bloodwork (€180 each). About a week later, we looked up the results on the web. A few of the numbers confused us, so we went back and consulted with the doctor again (free). She gave us some advice [we think this included the admonition to drink more wine, but we couldn’t swear to it…]. And she suggested a couple of prescriptions (nothing serious!), which we filled at modest cost (about €40 for everything, i.e. these were not copays). This doctor spoke very little English, but a man who worked there translated for us when we ran into trouble. All in all, a good experience, and a quite affordable one.
Ophthalmologist and Glasses
We noticed that the clinic where we got our bloodwork also offered ophthalmology exams, so we signed up for those too – yay for one-stop healthcare shopping! As we get older, we like to monitor things like glaucoma and cataracts, in addition to checking prescriptions. This too was a painless experience, and the doctor spoke English. We saw some familiar equipment, but also a few fancy gadgets. Laurel got an updated prescription which we had filled at a neighbouring optician. Here we encountered the only shock to our pocketbook: eyeglasses were significantly more expensive than in the U.S. (€750, though they were progressives). This was a surprise, especially since we brought our own frames. But progressive lenses seem to be a luxury item.
Gynecologist/Mammogram
Again, this form of healthcare was super-professional and efficient, with an ultrasound as a matter of course. Which, ladies, meant no manual exam, and this somehow made the whole experience much less intrusive. Having been scolded by the Italians the year before, Laurel came armed with last year’s mammogram, which duly factored into the discussion. All is well, and at a reasonable price (€120).
Tropical Medicine Consultation
In addition to our regular healthcare needs, this year we needed some vaccinations, because we’ll soon be in the tropics (teaser!). We couldn’t get an appointment at the vaccine centre in Seville, but we made them in Huelva, a short bus ride away. So we took a field trip to the city from which Columbus departed for the ‘Indies’. In Huelva we ate a ton of seafood, saw an impromptu medieval parade, and popped by the vaccination centre. As often happens in Europe, we were astounded by how much information the doctor gave us, and by the fact that she expected us to make our own choices (another Hepatitis B shot or don’t bother? Dengue fever vaccination, or risk a first-time exposure [practically never fatal]?) The conversation, by the way, was in flawless English. .
We got a few shots in the arm and a number of prescriptions to fill. This last part was among the least good of our Seville healthcare experiences. But it might be our fault and/or a language issue. Service was very slow at the pharmacy, and they seemed to want a lot of information we didn’t have. But eventually we sorted it all out. Only to discover, when we got home, that we’d been given packets of 12 malaria pills instead of 24, so we only had half of what we needed. We went back the next day and – after a much more discussion, several phone calls, and a bit of groping about for vocabulary – ended up getting additional packets of twelve. These drugs, and typhoid pills, are fairly expensive. But the cost was well under what we’d pay for them in the U.S. (€38 for a packet of 24 vs $183).
Summary
All in all, we were very satisfied with the healthcare we received in Spain. Our expenses were all out-of-pocket, with receipts to be submitted. Our travel insurance probably won’t reimburse all of it, but given what we got, we think it was a good deal anyway. One more reason, perhaps, to settle permanently in Spain?
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Cari John e Laurel,
La sanità pubblica in Italia aveva una magnifica reputazione, e tuttora disponiamo di personale medico e infermieristico di prim’ordine, per non parlare delle eccellenze nel campo della ricerca; purtroppo gli investimenti sono progressivamente diminuiti, e nell’attuale disastrosa fase politica si tende a prvilegiare il settore privato. Sulla Spagna sono d’accordo con voi, il servizio pubblico è eccellente: un’ottima ragione per decidere eventualmente di risiedere in questo Paese. Buon proseguimento del viaggio!