Serious illness or accident: consular help and repatriation

Key rules

• Consulate role: Your consulate will not pay hospital, hotel, legal or travel bills, or fines and bail.
• Consent: Hospitals usually need the patient's consent before sharing information with relatives or the consulate.
• EHIC: The EHIC covers necessary state treatment, not repatriation or air ambulance flights.
• Insurance: Call your insurer early, because its medical team usually has to approve the repatriation plan.

What your consulate does

Your consulate helps with contact and information. It does not pay. Treatment and repatriation costs fall on the patient, an insurer or a public scheme.

The consulate can:

• Contact your family and give them travel information and local contacts.
• Liaise with the hospital, as far as the patient consents.
• Give you lists of local doctors, translators, lawyers and funeral services.
• Help family send you money.
• Help with documents, such as a replacement passport.

It cannot give medical advice. It cannot insist on treatment or special treatment.

Hospital privacy rules mean the hospital usually needs the patient's consent before it gives information to relatives. If the patient can sign or say yes, ask them to consent early.

Who pays for repatriation

The patient or their family pays, unless a travel or health insurer covers it under the policy. Some countries' public schemes cover it only in limited cases.

An EU EHIC covers necessary state-provided treatment in Spain on the same basis as Spanish residents. It does not cover repatriation, air ambulance costs or private care.

Costs can be high, especially for an air ambulance flight. Check your policy's repatriation cover before you travel, and call the insurer's emergency line as soon as someone is admitted.

What repatriation depends on

• The treating doctor confirms the patient is stable and fit to travel.
• The transport suits the condition: a commercial flight with an escort, a stretcher on a scheduled flight, or an air ambulance.
• A hospital or facility in the home country accepts the patient.
• The insurer's medical team approves and arranges the plan, if an insurer is paying.
• The airline gives medical clearance, and escorts, equipment and paperwork are arranged.
• The patient or their family consents.

The checklist below goes through these steps in order. The questions below it cover the EHIC and what the consulate can tell your family.

Checklist

• Check whether your travel or health insurance covers medical repatriation and air ambulance flights.

• Call your insurer's emergency line early so its medical team can approve and arrange the plan.

• Get the airline's medical clearance, and arrange escorts, equipment and paperwork.

• Get the consent of the patient or their family before the transfer is booked.

Frequently asked questions

Does the EHIC pay for medical repatriation from Spain?

No, the EHIC does not cover repatriation, air ambulance costs or private care. It covers necessary state-provided treatment in Spain on the same basis as Spanish residents. Check your travel insurance policy for repatriation cover.

What has to be in place before a patient can be repatriated?

The treating doctor must confirm the patient is stable and fit to travel, and a hospital or facility at home must accept them. The insurer's medical team usually approves and arranges the plan. The airline's medical clearance, an escort if needed, and the patient's or family's consent also matter.

Can the consulate tell my family how I am doing in hospital?

The consulate can contact your family and liaise with the hospital, but only as far as the patient consents. Hospital privacy rules mean relatives usually need the patient's consent to get information. If you can, say clearly who may be told.