Going to the doctor
It used to be that foreign residents in Spain, particularly if they were retired, would head back “home” as soon as they needed anything more than a couple of aspirins to keep them feeling healthy. And they might well have been wary of the huge family groups which gathered round every hospital bed and seemed to camp there overnight as well, or the problem of not being able to communicate with the medical staff. The health service, at least in the hospitals, was never poor but now, not only is it very good, but the bedside parties have been reduced or banned, and there are translators on hand or at the end of a telephone line to help with the language.
Going to see your “médico de cabecera”, or family doctor, is altogether different. It is an interesting experience, but you need to have plenty of time at your disposal to make the most of it.
First you need to get online, or if feeling confident, pick up the phone. Not to ring the health centre, because they won’t pick it up, but to ring the SAS (“Servicio Andaluz de Salud”) to get an appointment. They give you dates and times to choose from, and this is when you realise that they are giving appointments just four minutes apart, or less if they are reckoning on a lot of repeat prescriptions, so you need to practise reciting your symptoms so that you can get them all in fast.
You can do this while you are waiting in the queue at the appointed time, because the doctor will be running late. The other people waiting will be eying newcomers suspiciously, in between telling each other their symptoms and complaining that their regular doctor isn’t there again, so they are going to have to tell the entire story from the beginning to some stand-in doctor. At this point you really do need to speak a few words of Spanish, and speak them determinedly. “¿Qué hora tiene usted?” in this case doesn’t mean “Have you got the time?” It means “What time is your appointment?” and you must be precise to the minute. Establish your place in the queue, then sit down and listen to the gossip or rehearse your symptoms. You have plenty of time.
| Going to the doctor | |
|---|---|
| Quiero una cita con el médico | Iwant an appointment with the doctor |
| ¿Le viene bien el viernes? | Does Friday suit you? |
| A las doce y dos o las doce y cuatro | At two minutes past twelve or four minutes past |
| ¿Podría ser por la tarde? | Could it be in the afternoon? |
| El médico todavía no ha llegado | The doctor hasn't come yet |
| Sólo necesito que me firme una receta | I just want him/her to sign a prescription |
| A mi prima le va muy bien este medicamento | This medicine does my cousin a lot of good |
| ¿Qué le pasa? ¿Le duele esto? | What's the matter with you? Does this hurt? |
Liz Parry's Spanish Phrase Book is available from http://santanabooks.com/node/52
