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Weight-loss surgery in Spain for Irish public patients
Covered by the HSE under the Cross Border Directive.
If your weight is already harming your health, a long public wait can feel like time you do not have.
Weight-loss surgery without the public wait: a fixed price in a private hospital in Spain, paid back by the HSE where you meet the public system's criteria. The hospital, the surgeon, the price and your stay are in writing before you decide.
Free · no commitment · no documents · by video or phone, at a time you pick
Your right under EU law since 2011
2,266claims paid back to Irish patients in 2024
Your rights under the schemeThe public list for general surgery, the specialty weight-loss surgery belongs to, held 17,433 adults at the end of September 2026. Of those, 7,283 had been waiting more than six months and 3,302 more than a year.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, inpatient and day-case waiting list by specialty, September 2026
Your weight-loss operation in Spain, step by step.
Eight steps from the first conversation to your refund. You commit at step 4, not before.
Before you commit
Stop at any time, at no cost
Talk to us
You
Schedule a free call, by video or phone, at a time you pick. We answer your questions and tell you how the route works for weight-loss surgery.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. You need a letter from your GP or from a public consultant recommending weight-loss surgery, and any record of an assessment you have already had in the public system.
We determine your eligibility
Ablement · within 1 to 2 working days
You get a clear yes or no on whether you are eligible for weight-loss surgery in Spain. That includes whether you meet the criteria the Irish public system uses for this operation.
We find a private hospital
Ablement · within 5 working days of a complete file
We ask the hospitals and send you one written proposal: the hospital, the surgeon, the price of your weight-loss operation, the dates and your expected refund.
After you commit
We stay with you to the refund
Your date is confirmed
The hospital
The hospital confirms your date in writing within 10 working days of your acceptance, and then you book your travel. Plan to be away for your nights in hospital and a few more days nearby; the hospital's written plan says how many.
Your treatment abroad
The hospital
You meet your bariatric surgeon in person before you are admitted (for weight-loss surgery the HSE does not accept a video call), have your operation, and fly home when the surgeon says you are fit to fly. You pay the hospital directly and send us the documents for your claim.
We claim your refund
Ablement · within 5 working days of your return
We send your signed claim to the HSE and follow it until you are paid. The HSE paid in 45 days on average in 2024.
Your aftercare at home
Your GP
Your GP and the public system take over, as if you had the operation at home. Weight-loss surgery needs follow-up for years, including help with diet; talk to your GP before you travel so that it is planned.
One contact person, from the first conversation to the refund.
Easy to reach at every step. A family member can join every call.
What a weight-loss operation costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your weight-loss operation, in writing before you commit. You pay the hospital directly, before the HSE pays you back.
The HSE
Pays you back, when you meet the public system's criteria, up to what a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass costs in the Irish public system, at the inpatient rate, in 45 days on average (2024).
The detail for a weight-loss operation
The HSE pays back the cost of weight-loss surgery up to what a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass costs in the Irish public system, or the invoice if that is lower, and only when you meet the criteria the public system uses for this operation. In the Irish public system, a specialist obesity service assesses you before you are referred for surgery. In Ireland the operation means a stay of several nights, so the refund is at the inpatient rate, the rate for treatment with an overnight stay. It is paid to you once the operation is behind you, into your own bank account, and it does not include flights, a hotel or anyone travelling with you. The hospital puts its price in writing before you say yes; if no hospital can offer a price within the refund, we show you the shortfall in writing and you decide.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if a weight-loss operation in Spain can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
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What a weight-loss operation involves
Weight-loss surgery is for people whose weight is already harming their health, when diet, exercise and medicines have not been enough. A gastric sleeve removes a large part of the stomach and leaves a narrow tube, so you feel full after a small meal. A gastric bypass makes a small pouch at the top of the stomach and joins it directly to the small bowel, so food bypasses most of the stomach and the first part of the bowel. Both are done by keyhole surgery, under a general anaesthetic, and both also change the hormones that control hunger.
The surgery is a tool, not a cure: it works together with lasting changes in how you eat, and most people need vitamin and mineral supplements for life and regular follow-up for years. Weight comes off over the first one to two years, and conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure often improve. The surgeon discusses the risks and the demands of each operation with you before you decide.
Questions about a weight-loss operation
Short answers to what people ask us most. Open a question to read the answer.
All frequently asked questionsYour question isn't here?
Ask us in the chat Or send us a message from the Contact pageAm I eligible for weight-loss surgery abroad?
The refund follows the Irish public system's own criteria, which look at your body mass index, a measure of weight against height, together with illness related to your weight and a period of assessment. The HSE does not publish separate criteria for the operation abroad; a letter confirming that you are on a public waiting list for weight-loss surgery is one of the documents it accepts. In our first call we go through your situation and tell you honestly whether this route looks open to you.
Sleeve or bypass: who decides?
Your surgeon decides together with you at the consultation, based on your health and your history. Your written proposal then names the operation the price is for, so there is no doubt about what you are accepting.
What happens with follow-up once I am home?
Life after weight-loss surgery needs long-term follow-up, including help with diet, for years rather than weeks. That care is with your GP and the Irish public system, as if you had been operated on at home: under the Cross Border Directive, the same follow-up must be available to you as after an operation in Ireland, and your GP refers you for it. Talk to your GP before you travel, so that the follow-up is planned before the operation.
Will I lose my place on the Irish waiting list?
No. The HSE's rules do not ask you to leave the list to use the scheme, and you stay on it until you have been treated. Once your operation is done abroad, you let the Irish hospital know, so it can take you off the list. If you change your mind before then, nothing has changed at home.
Do I have to pay up front?
Yes. You pay the hospital directly, and the HSE pays you back afterwards, in 45 days on average in 2024. Some people use savings, help from their family or a credit union loan. We do not lend money or arrange loans, and no money of yours passes through us.
Is it safe, and what if something goes wrong?
You see the hospital and the surgeon's name in writing before you decide anything, and you meet the surgeon in person before you are admitted. Every hospital we work with must be registered with its country's health authorities, use surgeons who specialise in the operation, give its price and its terms on complications in writing, and give you an English-speaking contact person. The hospital that treats you is responsible for your care, and it must have a complaints procedure. We help you deal with the hospital, and at home your GP takes over as after any operation.
Why is your help free? What's the catch?
There is no catch. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee; you never pay us anything, and the hospital's price is fixed in writing before you accept. You can stop at any time before you sign with the hospital.
Will the HSE really pay me back?
The Cross Border Directive is EU law, and the HSE paid 2,266 claims from Irish patients in 2024 alone. The refund is yours when the paperwork is right: the referral, the consultation, the itemised invoice and your receipt. We prepare the claim with you, and before you travel you can send the HSE a prior notification, which tells you in advance whether you are eligible and gives an indication of the amount.
Can a family member come with me, or join the calls?
Yes. A family member can join every call and meeting, be named on your Consent Form and travel with you. Their travel and hotel are your own cost.
Find out if this route can work for you
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