Kiwi-family
{Rachael, the Mama of the family}
- Time of past OR future Camino
- walking every day for the rest of my life
A full six months after having treatment at the hospital at Santiago, we have been billed for it.
I thought I'd share here in case it is useful information for someone, but it is hard to make head or tail of the billing system.
Background: Tessa, aged 8, fell on the path at O'Cebreiro at midday Saturday.
Sunday we walked to Triacastela, because she did not seem to be in too much pain.
Monday her arm was still tender so we waited for the medical centre to open - we figured we'd probably have it checked out at that point if we were at home, so we should do the same in Spain (at home we would probably not have walked 21km the next day!!!)
The doctor believed it to be broken and sent us to Sarria where xrays confirmed her diagnosis.
But there is no facility for applying casts at Sarria so we took a bus to Lugo for that. Right outside the medical centre is a city map that shows the location of the bus station, should you ever need it!
The little medical centre in Triacastela told us there would be no payment at their centre as they were referring us to Sarria. The Sarria centre was not only full of incredibly helpful people who appreciated my efforts at almost-non-existent Spanish and showed us the most over-the-top respect and care, but it has also failed to send us any invoice of any kind. Again, maybe it's because we were transferred on to Lugo?
Lugo had an impressive hospital. New, clean, spacious. Staff was a little less friendly than the two previous ones, but still excellent. They were willing to overlook the fact that I had left passports with Daddy who was walking - silly of us, but full thanks to them! They billed us three months ago - about one hundred euros for the consultation, x-rays and getting a plaster cast.
Santiago's bill arrived today. It seems that an argument costs far more than a consultation;-) We waited for hours to be seen, were in the room for long enough for the nurse to tell us the arm was broken and the cast would have to stay on for another ten days. I explained we would be flying in a couple of days, and then be on a boat for a week before flying back to New Zealand another week later. I asked if it would be possible to either have the cast removed or have it replaced with a lighter fibreglass one. NO. And with that, the next patient was called in and we realised we needed to leave. That cost over 350 euros! I wonder what it would have cost to go to the private hospital!
Hope that helps someone.
I thought I'd share here in case it is useful information for someone, but it is hard to make head or tail of the billing system.
Background: Tessa, aged 8, fell on the path at O'Cebreiro at midday Saturday.
Sunday we walked to Triacastela, because she did not seem to be in too much pain.
Monday her arm was still tender so we waited for the medical centre to open - we figured we'd probably have it checked out at that point if we were at home, so we should do the same in Spain (at home we would probably not have walked 21km the next day!!!)
The doctor believed it to be broken and sent us to Sarria where xrays confirmed her diagnosis.
But there is no facility for applying casts at Sarria so we took a bus to Lugo for that. Right outside the medical centre is a city map that shows the location of the bus station, should you ever need it!
The little medical centre in Triacastela told us there would be no payment at their centre as they were referring us to Sarria. The Sarria centre was not only full of incredibly helpful people who appreciated my efforts at almost-non-existent Spanish and showed us the most over-the-top respect and care, but it has also failed to send us any invoice of any kind. Again, maybe it's because we were transferred on to Lugo?
Lugo had an impressive hospital. New, clean, spacious. Staff was a little less friendly than the two previous ones, but still excellent. They were willing to overlook the fact that I had left passports with Daddy who was walking - silly of us, but full thanks to them! They billed us three months ago - about one hundred euros for the consultation, x-rays and getting a plaster cast.
Santiago's bill arrived today. It seems that an argument costs far more than a consultation;-) We waited for hours to be seen, were in the room for long enough for the nurse to tell us the arm was broken and the cast would have to stay on for another ten days. I explained we would be flying in a couple of days, and then be on a boat for a week before flying back to New Zealand another week later. I asked if it would be possible to either have the cast removed or have it replaced with a lighter fibreglass one. NO. And with that, the next patient was called in and we realised we needed to leave. That cost over 350 euros! I wonder what it would have cost to go to the private hospital!
Hope that helps someone.