Can you keep seeing your home-country specialist from Spain?

Key rules

• Bridge only: Use video follow-up with your home specialist as a temporary step until a Spanish doctor takes over.
• Insurance: Get written confirmation from your insurer and the clinician's indemnity provider that video care for a patient in Spain is covered.
• EU prescriptions: A pharmacist may fill a valid EU or EEA prescription, but does not have to, and you pay in full.
• Non-EU prescriptions: UK and other non-EU prescriptions have no formal recognition, so a Spanish doctor usually has to reissue them.

Licensing and insurance rules for cross-border video care vary; confirm them with your clinician's regulator, your insurer and a Spanish pharmacy before relying on this.

Short answer: use it as a bridge, not a long-term plan

You can often keep a video appointment or two with your specialist while you settle in. Treat it as temporary. Three things limit it: whether the clinician is allowed to treat you while you live in Spain, whether anyone insures the care, and whether your prescriptions work in a Spanish pharmacy. Use the bridge to cover the gap until you have a Spanish doctor.

Is it legal?

There is no single clear Spanish rule for this. Clinicians who practise in Spain must be registered with the relevant professional body (colegio). Care given to a patient who is in Spain is generally treated as practising in Spain. Whether your clinician may treat you from abroad depends on their home regulator and on how Spain views it. The rules differ for clinicians in the EU and outside it.

Ask your clinician directly whether their regulator allows them to treat a patient who lives in Spain. Data protection law also applies to your records and video calls, so they should use a secure service.

Will insurance cover it?

Often not. Many home insurers and clinicians' indemnity providers cover only patients located in the home country, or exclude people living elsewhere. Cover varies by provider. Before you book a follow-up, get written confirmation from both your insurer and the clinician's indemnity provider that they cover video care while you are in Spain. The documents block below lists what to ask for. If either says no, you would be paying without protection, so consider switching to a Spanish doctor.

Will your prescriptions work?

It depends on where your prescriber is.

• EU or EEA prescriber: A Spanish pharmacy is not obliged to fill it, but it may if the prescription has the required details and the medicine is sold in Spain. You pay in full, not through the Spanish public system. Controlled drugs or medicines needing special prescriptions may be refused.
• UK or other non-EU prescriber: There is no formal recognition. The pharmacist decides case by case. In practice, a Spanish doctor usually has to issue a new prescription.

Check with a pharmacy before you run low on a medicine. Ask whether it is sold in Spain under the same active ingredient.

How long can you rely on it?

Set an end date. A sensible plan is to use video follow-up only until you have seen a Spanish doctor who can take over your care and prescriptions. Bring your records and a letter from your specialist to that first appointment. Stop the remote arrangement sooner if insurance cover is refused or your specialist is unsure about treating you in Spain.

The documents and FAQ below cover what to gather and common questions.

Documents you need

• A prescription from your EU or EEA prescriber showing your identity, the prescriber's name and qualification, their contact details, the medicine by its international non-proprietary (generic) name, the strength and the quantity.

• A new prescription from a Spanish doctor, if your prescriber is in the UK or another non-EU country. Pharmacists decide case by case on those prescriptions, and a Spanish doctor usually has to reissue it.

• Written confirmation from your home insurer and the clinician's indemnity provider that they cover video care while you live in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

Will a Spanish pharmacy fill a prescription from my home-country doctor?

Maybe: a Spanish pharmacy does not have to fill a prescription from a doctor in another country, but it can if the prescription is from the EU or EEA and has the required details. The medicine must be sold in Spain, and you usually pay the full price yourself. Controlled drugs may be refused.

What happens to a UK or other non-EU prescription in Spain?

A UK or other non-EU prescription has no formal recognition in Spain, so each pharmacist decides case by case. In practice, a Spanish doctor usually has to reissue it. Plan to see a Spanish doctor before your supply runs out.

Does my home insurer cover video appointments while I live in Spain?

Often not, because many home-country insurers and clinicians' indemnity providers limit cover to patients located in the home country. Ask the insurer, and the clinician's indemnity provider, to confirm in writing that they cover you in Spain before the video follow-up continues.