Spanish or Canaries healthcare?
Took our daughter's EHIC card along to the hotel doctor after she hurt her chest diving off a boat. 120 Euros, EHIC no use. A simple five minute checkup on a child. Made me appreciate living in a country where healthcare is free at the point of use.
However, the doctor, the same guy I had seen earlier in the week, agreed to take a credit card, automatically charging me in pounds, not Euros. That cost me another £7.
So, the reason I saw the doctor earlier in the week was another little scam, introduced about 2010 by the Spanish Government. To dive in Spain, you must have a current, annual medical certificate. Earlier in the week the doctor had only been able to take cash for this service, 35 Euros. He must have spent 90 seconds sticking a pulse-oximeter on my finger, listening to three heartbeats - not lung function - and a quick glance in my ears.
It's my understanding having learned to dive in the 1990's that the BS-AC national medical committee assessed available science and concluded there were no conditions that would affect your ability to dive safely that could be picked up by a GP medical. And scrapped a much more thorough GP medical than I was put through by the Spanish doctor.
This is nothing less than a scam. But a scandal at a very small level, so probably under the radar. Across Spain - and some other countries requiring ineffective medicals - this must amount to millions of Euros and plenty of hassle for recreational divers with probably no impact whatsoever on the safety of divers.
As it happens, the insurers handling my kid's case agreed to cover the cost, less excess, without needing to see the documentation. No, I am not persuaded that an insurance-based health system has any merits.
However, the doctor, the same guy I had seen earlier in the week, agreed to take a credit card, automatically charging me in pounds, not Euros. That cost me another £7.
So, the reason I saw the doctor earlier in the week was another little scam, introduced about 2010 by the Spanish Government. To dive in Spain, you must have a current, annual medical certificate. Earlier in the week the doctor had only been able to take cash for this service, 35 Euros. He must have spent 90 seconds sticking a pulse-oximeter on my finger, listening to three heartbeats - not lung function - and a quick glance in my ears.
It's my understanding having learned to dive in the 1990's that the BS-AC national medical committee assessed available science and concluded there were no conditions that would affect your ability to dive safely that could be picked up by a GP medical. And scrapped a much more thorough GP medical than I was put through by the Spanish doctor.
This is nothing less than a scam. But a scandal at a very small level, so probably under the radar. Across Spain - and some other countries requiring ineffective medicals - this must amount to millions of Euros and plenty of hassle for recreational divers with probably no impact whatsoever on the safety of divers.
As it happens, the insurers handling my kid's case agreed to cover the cost, less excess, without needing to see the documentation. No, I am not persuaded that an insurance-based health system has any merits.
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