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Colonoscopy and gastroscopy in Spain for Irish public patients
Covered by the HSE under the Cross Border Directive.
Waiting for a test when your GP wants to find out what is wrong can be the hardest kind of wait.
Your colonoscopy or gastroscopy without the public wait: a fixed price in a private hospital in Spain, paid back by the HSE. The hospital, the doctor, the price and the date 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 schemeAt the end of September 2026, 43,285 people were waiting for an appointment for a gastrointestinal endoscopy, the camera tests that include colonoscopy and gastroscopy, in a public hospital in Ireland.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, gastrointestinal endoscopy waiting list, September 2026
Your colonoscopy or gastroscopy 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 a colonoscopy or gastroscopy.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. You need a referral from your GP for the colonoscopy, the gastroscopy or both.
We determine your eligibility
Ablement · within 1 to 2 working days
You get a clear yes or no on whether you are eligible for a colonoscopy or gastroscopy in Spain.
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 doctor, the price of your test, 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. One short trip is usually enough: the test takes part of a day, and the hospital's written plan gives the timing.
Your treatment abroad
The hospital
As the test is a day case, you can talk to the doctor by video or phone before you travel, where the hospital offers it, or meet in person at the hospital. Then you have your test and fly home once the hospital says you have recovered from the sedation. 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 test at home. The results and the report go to your GP, who decides with you what happens next.
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 colonoscopy or gastroscopy costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your test, in writing before you commit. You pay the hospital directly, before the HSE pays you back.
The HSE
Pays you back up to what the same test costs in the Irish public system, at the day-case rate, in 45 days on average (2024).
The detail for a colonoscopy or gastroscopy
The HSE pays back the cost of a colonoscopy or gastroscopy up to what the same scope costs in the Irish public system, or the invoice if that is lower. You go home the same day, and the HSE's rate list has a day-case rate for a colonoscopy, for a gastroscopy and for both done in one visit. The HSE pays by the setting the test would have in Ireland, where it is a day case, so we ask the hospital to admit you as a day case and to invoice it that way. The refund is paid into your own account after the test and leaves out flights, a hotel and a companion. Before you agree to anything, the hospital sets its price down in writing; should no hospital come within the refund, we put the gap to you in writing and the decision stays yours.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if a colonoscopy or gastroscopy in Spain can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
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What a colonoscopy or gastroscopy involves
A colonoscopy and a gastroscopy are tests, not operations, done with a thin flexible tube with a camera at its tip. In a colonoscopy the tube is passed through the back passage along the whole large bowel; the bowel must be empty, so you take a strong laxative the day before. In a gastroscopy the tube is passed through the mouth into the gullet, the stomach and the start of the small bowel, and takes only a few minutes. Both can be done in one session, usually with sedation that makes you drowsy, or a gastroscopy with a throat spray alone.
During either test the doctor can take small samples of tissue and remove polyps, small growths in the bowel, so a test can also be a treatment. The findings and the samples go in a report to your GP, who takes it from there. After sedation you need someone with you for the rest of the day.
Questions about a colonoscopy or gastroscopy
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 pageWill I be awake during the test?
Most people have sedation, which makes you drowsy and relaxed, so you remember little of it. Hospitals usually ask that someone is with you afterwards, and they tell you when you are ready to travel; the hospital's own instructions are in your proposal.
What if the test finds something?
The results and the report go to your GP, who decides with you what happens next. A scope is a test, so any treatment it shows you need is a new case, either in the Irish public system or, if you wish, through us.
Can I have both tests on the same trip?
Often both are done on the same day if your GP's referral asks for both, and the hospital's proposal says whether it will. Tell us at the start, and the proposal will cover both tests and the refund: when both are done in one visit, the HSE pays one combined rate for the two, not one for each.
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 test 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 doctor's name in writing before you decide anything, and you have a consultation with the doctor before the test. Every hospital we work with must be registered with its country's health authorities, use doctors who specialise in these tests, give its price and its terms on complications in writing, and give you an English-speaking contact person. The hospital that examines 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 receives the report and takes it from there.
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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