A breast cancer patient whose free health care was withdrawn while she was half way through treatment to eradicate it has hit out at the British Government for failing to recognise the plight of ex-pats living in Spain. Elaine Proud, 58, and her husband John, 63, are worried that their savings won’t last long enough to pay for the life-saving treatment that she needs.

They have signed up to the Valencia health authority’s private scheme, which they say, with the cost of prescriptions, will wipe out all their income, a small pension payable to Mr Proud.

The withdrawal of free health care came as Elaine was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, which was diagnosed in February this year after she noticed a lump in her armpit. In 2007 she was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic, which means she needs ongoing treatment and medication for the condition.

Elaine has become a member of PUMA22, a non-political action group fighting the withdrawal of free health care, and she joined a march in Alicante last week where a letter was delivered for the attention of Mr Giles Paxman, British Ambassador to Spain.

The couple moved to El Raso, Guardamar, in Spain 2005, financing their new home from the sale of their property in Bradford, West Yorkshire. They bought their house outright after they were both made redundant from their jobs in the UK, where Elaine was an office manager and John worked in car part engineering. ‘We hoped with my husband’s small pension and our savings we would be quite comfortable until we received our state pensions,’ she says.

Elaine and John had done their research and obtained the relevant paperwork, including Residencia, NIE and Padron to secure their SIP cards. Then earlier this year they learned that free health care was to be withdrawn and they would have to pay 540 euros per quarter for their health care, along with 90 euros a quarter for medicines. ‘I know we are luckier than a lot of people – at least we have savings to fall back on,’ says Elaine.

´’But if we had known that the healthcare was going to be rescinded we would not have come here to live. They did say the costs would be reasonable, but 270 euros per person to us is not reasonable when there are two of us to pay for. It is a third of our income. ‘We can’t apply for the ‘sin recursos’ because we have savings in England and our house is paid for, so we understand we won’t get anything until we have depleted all our savings.’

Elaine says her treatment has been excellent. ‘I have had the best care ever – I am a preferential patient which means I get the earliest appointments,’ she says. ‘I have seen several consultants for various problems, including a gynaecologist, oncologist and endocrinologist. I have no problems at all with the healthcare here.’
Elaine underwent an operation to remove a lump in May at Torrevieja Hospital and was an inpatient for four days. In June she started a chemotherapy course with treatment every three weeks. ‘After the first session my hair fell out and I was quite ill for most of the time,’ she says. ‘Now I need a further six weeks of radiotherapy. I believe the operation was a success, but the cancer that was removed was secondary and the primary source has not been located. But the scans indicated that everything is normal and no primary has been located. I will be monitored very closely for quite some time.

This week Elaine has seen an endocrinologist and has been told that she has a nodule on her thyroid. She has an appointment for a sonar scan and puncture on the December 24. ‘My problem is that when we came to Spain we bought our property with the understanding that healthcare was free until we reached official retirement age.’

Elaine says they cannot afford to return to the UK. ‘We don’t have anywhere to live and our finances will not allow us to rent or buy a property and keep this one here. All our money is tied up in the property here. My treatment is halfway through, so we will have to pay for our SIP card here for another two years which means our savings will be seriously depleted by the time we get our state pensions – if they last that long.’

Elaine’s state pension starts at the age of 61 years and two months, while her private pension will pay out when she is 60, although it is only expected to be a small amount. John’s state pension will start in two years’ time. ‘We cannot sell our property here because of the property crash and the exchange rate is terrible so there are no buyers,’ says Elaine. ‘I feel that we don’t have any choice about paying for the treatment, especially in my condition. It means we will have to count the pennies for the next two years until we get our E121.

‘We are really annoyed with the British Government. We have both worked full time all our lives, apart from five years I had off when I had my children. We have paid our dues in full to the Government yet they will not pay for our treatment here. But they will pay for anyone else who turns up in England never having paid anything into the country.

‘It will be ok because we have to survive. We just won’t have any luxuries – we will do without everything that is unnecessary. As long as we can pay the bills and put food on the table we will get through this.’
A spokesman for the British Embassy said: ‘The British Embassy and Consular system in Spain is not responsible for the provision of healthcare in Valencia.

We have been in discussion with the Valencia Health Authorities, which has led to them offering a new system covering people with chronic conditions, and many residents are grateful for our efforts to help resolve this. But any further questions that arise should be addressed to the Valencia Health Authorities directly.’

Story: The Leader