How do I find nearest doctor to register with?

We live in Arroyo de la Miel, Benalmadena Costa and need to know where our nearest doctors are to register with. Everyone we have asked comes up with something different! I have a problem with my hearing since having flu just after Christmas and I need to see a doctor to get it sorted asap as I'm deaf as a post at the moment and have got to the point where I don't want to go out. We're not pensioners yet I'm 54 and it's getting very embarrassing!!!

Hi - I'm not in your area but our town hall has a desk where you can apply for your SIP card (health card) and they then allocate you to one of the local doctors.  Perhaps you should try there?

To register at your age you will need to be entitled to Spanish health care - either short term via your UK contributions, or because you are paying into the Social Security system.  Otherwise you will need to go private - maybe this is why you got so many different answers!

If the system is different in your area then hopefully someone local will post with more information.

Good luck.

As Claire says - you must first ensure you are entitled to state health care. Are you registered as residents? How long have you been here, and do you have an S1 from Newcastle? And don't bother asking what a SIP card is, because I doubt if anyone in this part of the world will know what you're talking about!

This message was last edited by Roberto on 11/02/2011.

We didn't have our residencia, just our padrón, at the time that I registered.  I took the form from Newcastle (it is now the S1 that Roberto refers to) to the INSS office, queued briefly, then the man who was dealing with me took the form off me, put it in an envelope addressed to Newcastle, typed in a few details on his computer, walked over to a printer and returned with my new EHIC in his hand!  I had to wait for my SIP card, however he gave me a form that I took to the nearest Centro de Salud so that I could register straight away.  After the horror stories that people relate about Spanish bureaucracy I was amazed at how quick and simple the process was!

A friend had given me the name of a doctor who speaks good English (we hadn't been here long so I didn't want to have to struggle with my Spanish if I became ill!), however when I asked if I could register with him I was told his list was full.  I then asked for another doctor who "habla inglés" and the administrator seemed to be scanning a list before telling me who my doctor was.  As she hadn't said "si" or "no" to me, I didn't know anything more until a man approached my husband in a bar and asked him, in perfect English, whether he had finished with the newspaper on the table.  He then told us he worked in the health centre and spoke English, so to ask for him if we ever needed help, at which point I dug out my SIP card to show him and discovered that he is my doctor!  Luckily I haven't needed to see him so far (fingers crossed!).

Sue

I stress again, "SIP" card is an unknown term here in Andalucia - yes, if you are on the system you will have a "tarjeta sanitaria" or health card, but it's not kown as SIP. Secondly, as I have pointed out elsewhere, normally you will not be allowed to join the padrón unless you have registered already as a resident. Where this has been allowed, it is the exception, not the norm. Another thing, I'm a bit surprised that you were given an EHIC, because I thought that if you are receiveing health care based on the reciprocal agreement, it should be issued by the authority meeting the cost of any treatment, which in the case of UK pensioners or early retirees getting temporary cover with their S1, is the UK. But who knows? It all seems to depend on where you are, whether they follow the official line or just make up their own rules!

In answer to the OP's question, assuming you already know what you need and / or have the necessary documentation, there is an INSS, or rather the Tesoreria General de Social Seguridad office in the centre of Arroyo, Calle Andalucia, a big ugly building full of ugly bored and rude civil servants. That's probably where you should go to register yourself and find out where your nearest GP is. Good luck!

That is the problem with living here - everywhere you go you find different rules!  Roberto, you are quite right in saying that it should be called "tarjeta sanitaria" though many expats refer to it as the SIP card.  When we registered on the padrón here, we needed to show our NIE, passport and proof of our address (at the time we were renting so they looked at our rental contract.)  I am talking about what happened over 2 years ago, and at the time I handed over my British EHIC before receiving my Spanish one, which expired the following year, at which time I received a new EHIC card from the UK.  Confused?  We certainly were!

We were told to show our padrón when we went for our residencia in Murcia, so it does look as if that is the system here if not elsewhere in Spain!  To be honest it is never that clear, so now we keep all our documentation in a folder, which we take with us when doing anything official! 

Sue

Yes, it's confusing, which is why I keep stressing that SIP is not a recognised term in Andalucia (where the original poster is). Sorry to 'arp on about it, but it just adds to the confusion when localized terms are thrown into the mix. I might as well post this in Welsh!

After much searching around, I have finally discovered that SIP stands for Sistema de Información Poblacional - just in case anyone down here is curious!! A SIP card is a tarjeta sanitaria.

Hi Spandangler,

We also live in the Arroyo area. Where and how you register with a doctor depends on your residency status. If you have not yet taken steps to permanent residency and have a UK issued EHIC card you can take yourself into the Centro de Salud behind the station, or in cases of emergency to the Chare Hospital Urgencias opposite Benalmadena Golf on the road up to the Pueblo. So long as you have a photocopy of both your EHIC card and your Passport with you you will be treated.Where we live we had to access the Centro de Salud in Torrequebrada and not the one in Arroyo. there are interpreters on duty each weekday morning at both Centres and they can assist with any problems that you might have.

In order to register with a specific Doctor you will have to either be in employment here and paying into the State system or have the necessary forms from the Department of Work and Pensions in Newcastle. The forms are either issued as a result of early retirement, in which case you will be entitled to emergency treatment for up to 2 years, depending on your insurance payment record, but will have to make arrangements for standard Consultant appointments in the UK.

If you or your partner is over retirement age then you will be issued with a separate form that will entitle you both to free healthcare within the Spanish system. These forms must then be taken to the Social Security Offices in Fuengirola to register and you will be issued with a document stating that you are eligible for Health Care which you then present at the relevant Centro de Salud  If you are of retirement age you will also eventually receive a Spanish health card through the post, either to your home address or to your Centro de Salud.

We have lived here for over four years and as retirees we cannot praise the health services in this area and at Hospital Clinico in Malaga too highly.

My understanding from people on another forum is that some parts of Andalucia offer healthcare to everyone who is registered as resident, regardless of age.

Where?