SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

Many expats pack their bags and go back to blighty when they are ill.

I can’t understand this. The health service in Spain is superb and I should know. I have used the service in the Balearics, the Canaries and in Andalucia and I haven’t a single complaint about any of them. Some time ago I was diagnosed with cancer, like thousands of other people. The care that I received was absolutely spot on throughout my operations and my chemo and radiotherapy. Everyone was cheerful and polite and extremely helpful. Although my treatment ended a few months ago, the ongoing care is faultless. I didn’t expect it to be very good through the lockdown but it was.

Some of my appointments were cancelled and the oncologist called me instead. One time, however, I told the doctor that I Wasnt happy with just a phone call and he booked me in to see him the following day. When I went to see him, he gave me his private email address and his private phone number so that I could call him if I felt unsure about anything or if I felt I needed to see him again. I felt the need to call him on a couple of occasions and he called me back within the hour and made an appointment for me. During lockdown, he sent me an email so that I could carry it in the car in case I was stopped by the police during my trip to Malaga.

Everybody that I came into contact with was kind, considerate and extremely professional. I just know in my heart that I wouldn’t have had better healthcare care anywhere else. Now that the treatments are over and I am dealing with the side-effects on a daily basis, that friendly attitude is still there, from the pharmacists who have been giving me my medications to the local clinic, nurses and my GP. I can honestly say that I was never worried about the fact that I had cancer.

The doctor told me that it was curable and that I was going to be alright. They told me a few weeks ago that the tumour has gone and I just hope that it stays that way.
So, if you are taken ill and you are entitled to health care here. I can highly recommend that you should stay here, get better here and not go!