Figueres hospital refuses treatment to robbed tourist

Figueres Hospital is denying that it refused to treat a Swiss man who required treatment for injuries sustained in a robbery because he was unable to pay.

A police officer accompanied him to the hospital and say he was asked for €130 by the hospital; he was unable to pay as he had just been robbed, when he sustained minor injuries. The man left with the police officer and went to a clinic in la Jonquera where he was eventually attended, albeit reluctantly.

The hospital has said that the man left before he was able to be treated, but the fact that a policeman was witness lays doubt on that claim.

The moral of the story? If you are visiting the Costa Brava, or indeed any area of Spain, ensure you have valid medical insurance.

Of course, you may have your insurance card stolen, in which case the hospital should phone your insurance company for details.

However, in the current environment when the health service is so cash strapped perhaps they won’t even make the effort to take the effort to find the number, or pay the cost of an international call to check your details.

This is clearly unacceptable.

Source: Empordà.info

Tags: Figueres, Health, Hospital, socialmedia