Spanish NHS v UK NHS

[kevinb]

I'm wondering how long waiting lists are for operations in Spain comparing with the UK and whether the Spanish lists have in creased.

[kevinb]

We've had recently come up against the stark reality of waiting lists in the uk, three days before we were due to fly out to GA for a month in September my wife became ill and was admitted to our local hospitals Surgical assessment unit at three in the morning,  after a CT scan two days later a diagnosis of a badly inflamed gallbladder was diagnosed, my wife had low oxygen sats and low blood pressure, fortunately she responded  to IV antibiotics and recovered. The hospital staff were excellent. The surgeon  who reviewed  her said the gallbladder needed to come out as a reoccurrence of the problem  was likely, her liver had show distress, likely a blockage of the bile duct, the surgeon put her on the waiting list this being a year. The thought of her suffering so much pain again was too much to contemplate so on Monday she had the gallbladder removed at our local Nuffield Hospital by the surgeon  who looked after in our NHS hospital. the man is a superb surgeon, the operation  was a success and all is well. The cost was nine  thousand  pounds, we don't begrudge the cost and are happy with the outcome although  there is something  fundamentally  wrong with the system that makes you wait a year for a resolution  to a serious  health problem.  I'd wondered how the Spanish  NHS was  holding  up in comparison.

[Derek]

My experience here in the UK. Attended A & E at Salisbury and was dealt with immediately. They discovered a bleed on the brain. Within minutes I was being transferred to Southampton Hospital with blue lights and sirens all the way. Operated the the same day. Was discharged four days later and no loss of memory, mobility or speech ( I was back to normal) in less than two weeks. When the chips are down the NHS here in the UK cannot be bettered in my view.

Derek

[denandrose]

6 years ago, I had my gallbladder removed as a paying patient at the I-med hospital near Elche. I chose this option as I needed it doing before a planned holiday. The whole process was done very quickly. Once I agreed the cost of €5000 it took 2 weeks to happen. The fee included everything, from Consultants fees, to operation and a private room that was like a 4 star hotel. I went home the day after my operation and  my recovery went very well. The post operative appointments were also included. I hope this helps.
The Spanish NHS would have taken several months just for the initial scans as it was not classed as urgent at the time.
An emergency would have been quicker.

[kevinb]

Thanks denandrose, Seems state health care comes with a wait, give the pain my wife was in given she was on morphine we couldn't risk another attack. Her care in our UK NHS hospital was excellent but it fell apart with the expected  years wait. We were lucky the surgeon who did the op at our local Nuffield Hospital had access to the CT scan or it would have been another thousand on the bill. We've never experienced private health care before and it was superb. The surgeon asked my wife for permission to use the video recording  of her op for training purposes as he was using a new cutting edge instrument so fame at last. Anyway Al fine and dusted.

[denandrose]

It’s good your wife is well now, .
I also had cataract surgery privately in Spain in Alicante at Medimar hospital, again done very quickly.
In contrast, 2 years ago I had emergency abdominal surgery in England, it was in the aftermath of COVID, but because of the months of delays, what was going to be straightforward, ended up being an emergency, after which it was touch and go for survival! It took 6 months to recover from that,! Even worse, my Consultant took 20 months to see me post operation,! Thank God I have a brilliant GP who wrote letters of complaint.
I must admit, in all my years I’ve never had such bad service from the NHS. I suspect I was unlucky with the Consultant allotted to me, as I’ve seen others during COVID with no problems, just a bit of a delay.

[Tony Gillam]

Quite a disparity between private in UK and private in Spain for the same operation. Charge what the market will bear?

[denandrose]

Yes, but mine was 6 years ago, I should imagine now it would cost much more after cost of living increases in Spain, also effects of COVID. I arranged my costs through Salvuum Health who bartered the price a little for me.
We’re now back in England and have noticed a massive difference in NHS services, waiting times etc, not for the better unfortunately.😢😢

[kevinb]

Waiting lists are getting longer , our moronic government  allowed 700,000 Immigrants into the UK in the last year some of them to work in the NHS,  it seems not to have occurred to the government  that it means that there are potentially  700,000 more NHS patients to treat.

[NickiH]

My partner had his gall bladder removed at Elche hospital 18 months ago whilst we were out on a 2 week trip. Excellent service. Checked and operated on within 3 hours of admission. Spent 3 days in the hospital in his own room. Could not fault anything. The attention and medical care was incredible. Didn’t cost us anything.

[kevinb]

Nicking, So you aren't a resident in Spain then ?