Holiday Dialysis in Salou, Spain

Our holiday this year was to be slightly different, even though we were quite used to putting our own holiday together, booking low cost flights, our accommodation and so on, we had another factor to consider.

After my wife fell ill and suffered renal failure she was left with having to have haemodialysis three times a week for around three hours each session. Once things had settled down a little and routine dialysis was in place, we decided we needed a holiday and looked at taking break in Salou, Costa Dorada, Spain..

Our first step was to find out if this was possible and whether we were able to arrange for dialysis in Spain. We asked at our local renal clinic and we were given a contact name and email address. Sending off the initial email proved fruitless as the email bounced back as 'unknown'.

A search around the internet and we found various information on holidays abroad with dialysis, but little on the area we wanted to visit. A continued search revealed two organisations that looked possible.

Fresenius Medical Care Services Catalunya and ALCER Tarragona.

I sent an email to both organisations and after around a week received a reply from Fresenius Medical Care (FMC). They sent me the initial forms to receive dialysis at the Centre de Diàlisi REUS, these needed completing by my wife's renal unit. Things were looking up!, this Dialysis unit was just 15 minutes from the resort of Salou, not only that but the dialysis session were covered by the NHS EHICS card scheme. The forms were returned along with photocopies of both my wife's passport and also her EHIC card.

Time was moving on and we was not hearing much back, after emailing FMC they replied that it was in hand and that we should hear soon. One thing to be aware of is that all the replies we received were in Spanish, but a quick cut and paste into Google Translate soon gave us what we wanted to know. Google is also useful to see the area where you are going for dialysis. Example of the Google street view map of the Reus Dialysis centre. Click here

Some two weeks later we received another email from FMC advising that they would require HIV and Hepatitis blood test results, these needed to be up to date test results not earlier than one month before arrival at dialysis in Reus.

Five days after sending these off we had done it, we received back our booking for dialysis session in Reus, Spain. These did not match our dates we required exactly, but after a couple of emails, they were very flexible and allowed us to pick which of the sessions we wanted. The best news was we could now book our flights and hotel.

With flights and hotel booked, I also contacted a local private hire taxi company in Salou and was able to pre-book a car to take my wife directly from our hotel to the Reus clinic and pick her up again after the dialysis session. Now we were set to go.

The day before our holiday our local renal unit gave my wife her last dialysis session before we travelled and also gave her all her drugs and medication that were required while away.

On the day of outward travel, my wife was a little apprehensive as to carrying all her medication through customs security, and although she was stopped this was only for a routine swab of her mobile phone.

So we had made it, here we were in Salou at our chosen hotel the H10 Delfin Park. Two days later at 6:45pm the car arrived at the hotel to take her to Reus Dialysis clinic with a journey time of just ten minutes.

The dialysis went fine, and to my wife's delight they used her chest line rather than the fistula. Her opinion of the Reus dialysis clinic, spotlessly clean, modern and extremely professional. During her session she was given a ham baguette and coffee, which was a blessing as she missed her evening meal in the hotel.

The trip was great with no problems whatsoever, the dialysis session although always a pain, as it took place in the evening it did not encroach on our holiday too much.

Cost wise, there was little difference with the only extra cost being the travel to and from the dialysis unit which came to a total of around £80

Flights from Ryanair, Luton to Reus at £250 (we did pay the extra for three hold bags and priority boarding).

Half board at the Hotel H10 Delfin Park at £280.

Taxi transfer from the airport at £50.

So £660 for a family of three for a week half board in Salou, Costa Dorada, Spain. Can't be bad.

Do not be afraid of booking your own holiday, by booking your flights and hotel separately you can make choices and arrange your travel to suit you, allowing you to choose flights times and days of travel to suit your dialysis both home and abroad.

On this particular holiday we arranged our flights so that we flew out from Luton airport and returned via Stansted. This allowed us to get more from our holiday with an evening flight back which also tied in for my wife's dialysis the next day.

HDI, Holiday Dialysis International. Part of the Fresenius Medical Care Group - http://www.hditravel.com/en/10.htm



European Health Insurance Card - https://www.ehic.org.uk/