Hospital in Spain opens to patients stuck on waiting lists in Ireland

A HSE representative has attended the official opening of Hospital Clinica Benidorm, a €60m private hospital in Denia, Spain, offering 'foreign patient care' to people in Ireland.

Credit unions have begun providing a streamlined loan service for people to have medical operations abroad in a new approach to bypass long waiting lists in Ireland.

A HSE representative has attended the official opening of Hospital Clinica Benidorm, a €60m private hospital in Denia, Spain, offering “foreign patient care” to people in Ireland.

Up to 1,500 operations have been earmarked in the Spanish hospital for Irish patients annually. The hospital offers Irish food and other familiar comforts.

Almost every treatment that is currently available on the Irish public system will be provided at the new Spanish hospital.

New figures have revealed the HSE has spent over €2m this year at private hospitals in Europe under the EU Cross Border Directive, where patients treated privately abroad are then refunded the costs by the state.

However, many people can't afford the upfront fees, with operations such as hip replacements in Spain running to €10,000.

To get around this, an agency that connects patients to EU hospitals for a commission, Healthcare Abroad, is now partnering with Irish credit unions to streamline applications for loans.

First South Credit Union chief executive George Cantwell explained that people can take out loans and then pay them off when they're refunded the cost of the operation by the HSE.

“People don’t come directly to us. They deal with Healthcare Abroad, they determine eligibility, and they assist the individual with the paperwork.

“They would then give us a heads-up to say 'Mary Murphy is looking for this facility'.” 

Eligible patients can apply for a credit union loan with as little as €5 in their account.

Paul Byrne, Chief Operations Officer of Healthcare Abroad, said the arrangement with the credit unions marked a new milestone.

The HSE has acknowledged waiting lists are creating opportunities for private hospitals abroad and said the involvement of credit unions could see patients get treated sooner.

General manager of the HSE commercial unit, Catherine Donohue, said: “In an ideal world we wouldn’t have patients waiting, but there are patients waiting. It is a lucrative and very valid market for private providers, and public patients benefit enormously from it.” 

She described these new opportunities for accessing funding as “exciting” for patients.

Michael Carroll from Ballyphehane, Cork, was one of the first patients treated at the Spanish hospital last week for cataract surgery, availing of the credit union support.

Michael Carroll Ballyphehane Cork had cataract surgery in Spain under the EU Cross Border Directive. Picture: Sergi Albir

“It was like I had a plastic bag over my eyes. I was very unsteady and it was affecting my balance as well. The clarity when they removed the bandages was unbelievable. I don’t think my eyesight has ever been this good.” 

He did not want to wait for treatment in Cork, as doctors said his eyesight was deteriorating quickly.

“Because of the name, I thought the Cross-Border Directive was only about the border with Northern Ireland,” he said.

Spain is now the second most popular destination after the UK with 517 patients treated there last year.

Among those involved with Healthcare Abroad is Chris Goodey, the former chief executive of the National Association of General Practitioners, the collapse of which is being investigated by the Corporate Enforcement Authority.