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Other treatments in Spain for Irish public patients
Covered by the HSE under the Cross Border Directive.
If your operation is not on our list, this route may still work for you: we check your treatment in three ways before we propose anything.
Your treatment without the public wait, if it passes our three checks: a fixed price in a private hospital in Spain, paid back by the HSE. 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 schemeWaiting times differ from treatment to treatment, so we check the list and the rules for your own case. At the end of September 2026, 114,722 people were waiting for an inpatient or day-case procedure in a public hospital in Ireland.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, national waiting list figures, September 2026
Your treatment 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 your treatment.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. We need your referral letter, or a letter showing you are on a public waiting list, to confirm that the Irish public system provides your treatment.
We determine your eligibility
Ablement · within 1 to 2 working days
We check your treatment against the three rules, and you get a clear yes or no.
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 treatment, 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. Whether you stay a night in hospital depends on your treatment and your surgeon; the hospital's written plan says how long you will be away.
Your treatment abroad
The hospital
If you stay overnight, you meet your surgeon in person before you are admitted, as the HSE requires; for a day case you can talk by video or phone before you travel, where the hospital offers it. Then you have your treatment 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 treatment at home.
One contact person, from the first conversation to the refund.
Easy to reach at every step. A family member can join every call.
What your treatment costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your treatment, 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 treatment costs in the Irish public system, at the rate for the setting it would have had in Ireland, a day case or an overnight stay, in 45 days on average (2024).
The detail
If your treatment passes our checks, the HSE pays back the cost up to what the same treatment costs in the Irish public system, as shown on its rate list. Whether it is paid at the day-case rate or the inpatient rate depends on the setting the treatment would have had in Ireland, not on your stay abroad. The refund comes after the treatment, into your own account, and never covers flights, accommodation or a companion. The hospital's price is fixed in writing before you accept; if no hospital quotes a price the refund covers, we show you in writing how big the gap is and leave the choice to you.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if your treatment in Spain can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
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How we check your treatment
It must be provided publicly in Ireland, it must be on the HSE's rate list, and a private hospital in Spain must give a fixed written price, which we set against the refund. If it passes all three, we handle the rest, and our service costs you nothing.
Questions about other treatments
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 pageWhich treatments can be paid back?
As a general rule, planned treatment that the Irish public system provides can be claimed under the Cross Border Directive, for example an operation for Dupuytren's contracture (fingers that bend into the palm) or for trigger finger. These are examples, not a promise: each one still has to pass the three checks in your own case. We arrange planned operations only.
What if my treatment fails one of the checks?
We tell you plainly which check it failed and why. If the treatment is not provided publicly in Ireland or is not on the rate list, this route cannot work, and we delete what you gave us. If only the price is the problem, we show you in writing how far the best price is above the refund, and you decide whether to go ahead.
What is never covered?
Treatment the Irish public system would not provide, for example cosmetic treatment or a treatment that has no public equivalent in Ireland. Organ transplants, long-term nursing care, vaccination and emergency care are also outside the scheme. We arrange planned surgery only; we do not arrange emergency care, dental care or physiotherapy.
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 have a consultation with the surgeon before the operation. 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
One free call, by video or phone. No commitment and no documents.
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