Patient rights and complaints
You will know what you can demand, how to see your records and how to escalate a problem.
Moving to Spain, you may meet a refusal, a confusing bill or a form you do not understand. This topic explains what you can demand as a patient, how consent and second opinions work, how to see your medical records, and how to complain or challenge a refusal or a bill.
Pick the article that fits your situation
Your rights as a patient in Spain
Explains the rights you have as a patient in Spain, foreigners included: to be informed, to privacy, to choose your doctor, and to bring company. Use it to ask questions, say no, and know where rules depend on your region.
Consent forms, refusing treatment and asking for a second opinion
Explains how consent works for medical treatment in Spain: when it must be in writing, your right to refuse or withdraw it, the narrow exceptions, and how a second opinion depends on your region. For anyone using Spanish public or private healthcare.
Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder
How to ask a hospital or health centre for your clinical history and copies, what to expect on cost and timing, and how the regional and national digital health folders show your data. For anyone treated in Spain's health system.
How to make a complaint about public healthcare (reclamación)
How to file a complaint about public healthcare in Spain, where it goes, how long an answer takes, and what to do if the answer is no or never comes. For patients in the public system in any region.
Refused a health card or billed for care: how to challenge it
What to do if Spain's health authority refuses your health card, or a public hospital sends you a bill you think is wrong. It covers where to appeal, the deadlines and what to send. It is for newcomers who have been refused or billed.
About this topic
It is for anyone thinking about, planning or carrying out a move to Spain. After reading, you will know what you can ask for, how to get your records and how to take a problem further, step by step.
Start with "Your rights as a patient in Spain". It covers information, privacy, choice and equal treatment, and it makes the other pages easier to follow. Then go to the page that matches your situation:
- Consent forms, refusing treatment and asking for a second opinion
- Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder
- How to make a complaint about public healthcare (reclamación)
- Refused a health card or billed for care: how to challenge it
Legal negligence claims, discrimination complaints and language support are not covered here.
Key rules
- Appeal deadline: You have 1 month to appeal a refusal with a recurso de alzada, and 2 months to go to the contencioso-administrativo court after an express decision.
- Records reply time: A centre must answer a request for your records within one month, and it can extend this by two further months for complex cases.
- Record retention: Centres must keep your clinical records for at least five years from discharge, and some regions require longer.
- Ombudsman deadline: You have one year from when you learned of the facts to file a complaint with the Defensor del Pueblo.
- Written consent: Consent is verbal as a rule, but it must be in writing for surgery, invasive tests or treatments, and procedures with notable risks.
- Equal rights: Your rights to information, consent, privacy and complaints apply to you as a patient, whatever your nationality or residence status.
Patient rights and complaints: the whole process, step by step
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Know your rights as a patient (Your rights as a patient in Spain): Before and during any care
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Sign or refuse consent forms, or ask for a second opinion (Consent forms, refusing treatment and asking for a second opinion): Before surgery, invasive tests or risky treatment
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Ask the centre for a copy of your records (Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder): After treatment; the centre must answer within one month, extendable by two further months for complex cases
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File a complaint with the patient-service office (How to make a complaint about public healthcare): As soon as a problem arises; the reply deadline is set by your region, often around 30 days and up to 3 months
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Escalate to the regional ombudsman or the Defensor del Pueblo if the answer is unsatisfactory (How to make a complaint about public healthcare): Within one year of learning of the facts for the Defensor del Pueblo
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Appeal a refused health card or a hospital bill with a recurso de alzada (Refused a health card or billed for care): Within 1 month of the decision
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Go to the contencioso-administrativo court if the appeal fails (Refused a health card or billed for care): Within 2 months of an express decision
Documents you may need
Other documents
- The written refusal decision from the health authority — Refused a health card or billed for care: how to challenge it
- Cl@ve or an electronic certificate or DNIe — Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder
Patient rights and complaints: questions that cross several articles
Do patient rights apply to foreigners without full health entitlement?
Yes, your rights to information, consent, privacy, access to your record and complaints apply to any patient receiving care, whatever your nationality or residence. Whether care itself is covered depends on your status. Read Your rights as a patient in Spain, and Refused a health card or billed for care if you were refused.
Can I refuse a recommended treatment?
Yes, you can refuse treatment, except in cases set by law such as public-health risks and emergencies, and the refusal is recorded in writing in your record. See Your rights as a patient in Spain.
Do I have a right to a second medical opinion everywhere in Spain?
No, there is no national right to a second opinion, only some regions recognise it, usually for serious or rare conditions with a referral from your doctor. See Your rights as a patient in Spain.
How do I get my records, and what if the centre is slow or I want to complain?
Ask the patient-service or records office of the centre where you were treated, with ID, and the centre must answer within one month. If it does not or the answer is poor, file a complaint with the same patient-service office. Read Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder, then How to make a complaint about public healthcare (reclamación).
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