xetog, it is scaremongering and as usual, the press are making bad news stories in an attempt to sell their newspapers.
I live in the Valencian Province, and have had excellent treatment for cancer, with follow ups continuing now and into the future.
OK, I am resident and have a Spanish SIP card, but you could not better the treatment even if you had private cover.
In fact, we do have private medical cover but as my cancer was spotted by a Health Service test, my treatment has been and continues to be covered by the SIP card.
My brother came to stay with us for a holiday eighteen months ago, and unfortunately he suffered a stroke at our home.
From calling the emergency services to his treatment in the local hospital, the health service here were fantastic.
He used his EHIC card and there was no problem at all.
My wife and I are planning on returning to England permanently in the near future, and one of my main concerns is the bad
publicity which surrounds the NHS at the moment. Fortunately, my sons partner is a theatre nurse with the NHS, and she has
said that the majority of NHS hospitals are fantastic, but this is not news and will not sell newspapers or get in the media.
I believe I will be very unlucky if I get one of the poor performing NHS hospitals in England, as would anyone coming to Spain and finding their EHIC card is not being accepted, both being in a minority of cases.