Accessing Stoma Supplies as an Expat in Spain

hi



i'm currently waiting for surgery 2 have a jpouch removed an a permanent ileostomy formed. once home and recovered im looking looking into moving a living in spain how difficult is it to obtain stoma supplies and where from?



dennis

Hi Dennis,

While I don't know about supplies in the EU I do know that Coloplast has it's head office in Denmark. They recently developed their first product developed by "innovationbyyou" (check website) and I ordered one and had it delivered to my sister in Holland who forwarded it to me. They couldn't deliver to North America.

So I assume that you should be able to order supplies online you might want to contact Colopast.

Hope this helps

Ed

Hi Dennis, Fear not. go to the local clinic/hospital and ask to see the stoma nurse, it is  a free service throught Europe and the nurse will put you in touch, its also free to see a stoma nurse whenever you need to but beware, stoma supplies are expensive so you need to check on your insurance status, good luck.

marilyn

Hi Dennis



I lived in Spain for 3 years, and go back several times a year now, and one of my main worries when moving to Spain was getting supplies, how much they would cost me etc.



I had help from Coloplast, who were very helpful, and put me in touch with a lovely English speaking lady who worked at Coloplast Spain. The bags there had different codes and names, so she told me the equivenlent ones I needed to order, which I did from the local chemist.



They are a bit behind in Spain and don't do a cutting service, so you have to do this yourself, which is a bit of a pain. Also, if you don't have insurance, or belong to the Spanish national health system, you will have to pay for your bags, which are around 80 euros for 30! (makes you appreciate the NHS here)



If you are planning to work in Spain, make sure that you are making social security contributions, and this will entitle you amongst other things, access to the Spanish health system and you can also get prescriptions for your bags. Although they are not totally free like in the UK, you will get a big reduction off the cost.



Hope this helps -



buena suerte



!

Ann