Hi there, Alexa.🙂 What questions do you have in particular?
In Spain, you have to be working and paying your contributions in order to access their NHS. I was in Asturias, in the north - where are you going to be living?
A few big differences from the UK system:
1. Strips, lancets, needles, ketone strips, etc. weren’t on a prescription - at my last surgery I had to make an appt with the nurse to get this kit. At my surgery before that, the system was slightly different so don’t expect them all to be the same!
2. My insulin was on an ‘electronic prescription’ which is basically a piece of A4 paper with all your meds listed on it (don’t lose it!🙄) - the pharmacist scans it and gives you what you want from the list. It means you don’t have to go and get repeat prescriptions until the bit of paper expires (it’s about 8 months’ worth of meds). But again, don’t expect every area of Spain to be the same!
3. My endo and DSN were at my local hospital. Ten days before an endo appt, I had to make an appt to get the necessary blood tests done at my surgery (the vampires only worked from 8 to 8.30am, Mon to Thurs); the blood was then sent to the hospital and analysed there. Then the results’d magically pop up on my endo’s computer screen.
A friend who’s a doctor here in the UK surprised me by saying that the Spanish NHS has a bad reputation - rubbish! - I only have good things to say about the Spanish system. 😛
