Repeat Prescriptions

Hi, I'm going to be moving to Spain for about a year - not permanently so I'm not going to de-register from the UK NHS. I get a number of repeat prescriptions - asthma inhalers, etc... Can anyone give me any information about whether or not I could get a repeat prescription from Spain? I don't want to de-register from the NHS as I'll be coming back in a year. Thanks

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Hi Lyndsey,

We moved to Spain a couple of months ago.  I dont really know anything about repeat prescriptions, Im sure someone else will answer that question for you.  But, when it comes to a lot of medicines i.e asthma inhalers, antibiotics that you normally have to get on prescription in the UK, you are able to buy over the counter here in a farmacia.  I have had experience with both of these medicines as one of my daughters was suffering with ear infections during the Summer months (therefore needed antibiotic ear drops) and my other daughter is asthmatic.  In fact I went to the farmacia only this weekend to get inhalers for her, I took in her empty ones that we had bought with us from the UK and they were very helpful and gave us the equivalent.  I guess it helped that I took in her old ones as on the inserts it states amount diagnosed in milligrams and the names of the ingredients i.e. salbutamol, ventolin etc.  All the medical words on the inserts are the same in Spanish as they are in English so this made it easier for us as we live inland, north of Murcia, in a very 'Spanish' area where no one speaks English!

I hope this helps and Good Luck with your move.

This message was last edited by Ricman on 10/15/2008.

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Asthma inhalers are available OTC at Spanish pharmacies and they are cheaper than prescription costs in UK (about €5, I think).  Pharmacies will give you up to 2 at a time on production of either your repeat script or the old inhaler.  Recommend you use the old inhaler so they can give you an exact match.  I buy my son-in-law half a dozen of each when I go over as it saves him a fortune on the UK prescription price.  (unless you live in Wales, of course).

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Hi
It depends a lot on which region of Spain you will be living in. However as a holder of a EHIC card you should be able to go to any Dr. and get a script.  I understand that EHIC's are now only issued for 12 months. On prescription lots of medicines are cheaper here than in the U.K. For example one of my medications costs about £80.00 in U.K. on private script. Here the cost was under 80,00€ but on prescription it cost 2.85€. A lot less than the £7.10 charge in U.K. However some other scripts are more expensive.

Another thing is it depends on your age. If you are a pensioner you get free prescriptions. A pensioner here is a female aged 60 and a male 65. If you are married then if the wife is over 60 then her husband will be deemed as her dependant and get free scripts.

Do not forget that if you are in any country for more than 6 months and 1 day in any tax year  you are deemed to be taxable in that country, even if you are not "resident".

All the best

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