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Spinal surgery abroad for public patients in the EU
Covered by your country's public health service under the Cross Border Directive.
Living with back or leg pain while you wait for an operation on your spine can limit how far you walk and how long you can sit.
Your spinal operation without the public wait: a fixed price in a private hospital in another EU country, paid back by your public health service. 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
290,000claims paid back to patients across Europe in 2024
Your rights under the schemeHow long you wait for spinal surgery depends on where you live: waiting times differ widely between EU countries, and between regions within a country. We look at your own wait with you.
Your own public health service's published waiting times; no single European figure is quoted here
Your spinal operation in another EU country, 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 check your country's rules with you and tell you how the route works for spinal surgery.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. You usually need a referral for spinal surgery from your own doctor, or a letter showing you are on a public waiting list for it; we tell you what your country asks for.
We determine your eligibility
Ablement · within 1 to 2 working days
You get a clear yes or no on whether you are eligible for spinal surgery in another EU country, checked against your country's rules.
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 spinal 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 surgeon before the operation, by video before you travel or in person at the hospital, as your country's rules and the hospital allow. You 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 your public health service and follow it until you are paid. How long the decision takes depends on your country; we tell you before you decide.
Your aftercare at home
Your own doctor
Your own doctor and the public system take over, as if you had the operation at home. If you have a problem with your back, your own doctor is your first contact, and we help you reach the hospital if you need to.
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 spinal operation costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your spinal operation, in writing before you commit. You pay the hospital directly, before your public health service pays you back.
Your public health service
Pays you back up to what spinal surgery costs in the public system at home, under your country's own rules.
The detail for a spinal operation
Your country's public health service pays back the cost of your spinal operation up to what the same operation, a decompression or a fusion, costs in the public system at home, or the invoice if that is lower, under your country's own rules. The refund is paid to you once the treatment is done, into your own account; flights, accommodation and a companion are not included. Whether your country asks for permission in advance, called prior authorisation, we check with you on the call. You have the price fixed in writing before you accept, and if no hospital offers one the refund covers, we show you the gap in writing and you decide.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if a spinal operation in another EU country can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
No commitment and no documents needed.
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What a spinal operation involves
Spinal surgery treats pain, numbness or weakness in the legs or arms that comes from a nerve pressed inside the spine, when rest, exercise and injections have not helped. In a decompression the surgeon removes what presses on the nerve: a piece of a worn disc, a thickened ligament or a little bone. In a fusion the surgeon joins two or more bones of the spine with a bone graft, usually held by screws and rods, so that they heal into one and no longer move against each other. Both are done under a general anaesthetic.
Leg or arm pain from a trapped nerve is what these operations relieve best, often quickly; numbness and weakness take longer, and back pain on its own is less predictable, which the surgeon discusses with you before you decide. You are up and walking within a day or two, and you build up activity over weeks, longer after a fusion while the bone heals.
Questions about a spinal 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 pageHow many nights will I spend in hospital?
That depends on the operation and on the hospital's plan for you, which you see in the written proposal before you accept. After the hospital you stay some days close by until the surgeon says you can fly. The surgeon decides for each patient.
Who would operate on me?
Spinal operations are done by orthopaedic spine surgeons and by neurosurgeons. We ask the hospital who would operate on you and how many of these operations they do, and you get the answers in writing before you decide.
What if I have a problem with my back after I get home?
At home your own doctor and your public system care for you, as if you had been treated at home. If it is urgent, go to an emergency department. We help you contact the hospital or the surgeon abroad if you need to, and the hospital's terms for complications are in writing before you accept.
Will I lose my place on the waiting list at home?
No. The Cross Border Directive does not ask you to leave a waiting list to use it, and you stay on it until you have been treated. Once your operation is done abroad, you let your hospital at home 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 your public health service pays you back afterwards; how long that takes depends on your country, and we tell you before you decide. Some people use savings or help from their family. 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, by video or in person as your country's rules require. 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 own doctor 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 my health service really pay me back?
The Cross Border Directive is EU law, and 290,000 claims were paid back across Europe in 2024 alone. The refund is yours when your country's rules are met: usually a referral, any permission your country asks for in advance, the itemised invoice and your receipt. We check your country's rules with you before you pay anything, and we prepare the claim with you.
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.
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