On my second day in Lanzarote,i started to feel quite ill,my rep said to go to the Hospiten which i did , on arrival i was met by the most arrogant,bolshy,ignorant woman all tarted up,she told me and my 2 young c,dren {i am single dad by the way of 5and 7 year olds,so things are hard enough without a load of crap)to wait in another room,after 10 mins i asked what the procedure was,sitting checking her fingernails she announced ,you have to fill in this form ,its 100 euros for the consultation,then anything from 150 euros if you need attention here ,then 75 if need a prescription,and so on ,next thing the form was in front of me to sign , . I reluctantly said ok and asked if the doctor could just check my 2 c,dren cause they had been unwell,the reply was"thats another 100 euro s each for their consultation,another 150 for treatment, 75 for prescription etc,i was quite taken aback ,i asked what the waiting time is to see the doctor,she sternly replied " i don,t know ,the doctors on call at the moment ,could be 2 or 4 hours",,,well i,d had enough and walked out . I stuck it out the next day,but felt worse the next morning ,so went to the reception at our apartments,and they called a doctor out,and after 2 injections in the bottom and a prescription for antibiotics,it was a 270 euro bill,she was good enough to quickly check my 2 children,and gave them the all clear,but a huge amount of my spending money gone and now got to go through the turmoil of trying to claim of my travel insurance. Later that day a lady selling Suntan products wanted to sell me some of her stuff, i explained my money for luxeries had gone to the doctor,she said ,if you went to the hospital at Tias with your blue EHIC card you get to see a doctor free, my rep said thats not true and that you have to pay everywhere on the island ,,can anybody clear that up ,and /or advise me of a reputable medical place to go for next time ,thanks for reading

Garry, I live here. Your Suntan lady was right, your rep was wrong. Go to the Centro De Salud (Health Centre run by Spanish NHS) in Tias which is in the town centre and is open at most times. They will see you free on the strength of your EHIC card. Do take your passports too. You will probably have to pay for any prescription they give you, but prices are much like UK, although you they give you a percentage discount on drugs rather than a fixed price..

We were badly let down by Reps three years ago, when a young lad fell, lost his two front teeth and broen the two adjoining ones. he needed immediate emergency dental care, which probably would be availavle in Hospital, but reps said that there was no dentist working in Playa Blanca and the best he could do was go back to UK two days later and get treatment!

If I was there now, and knew what I now know, I'd have driven the lad myself to hospital. Even though I don't know the exact directions, I would have found the place, or if I saw the police, I'd have asked them for directions/escort.

Thank you "walker"for clarifing that,you have been very helpful,although i,m absolutely fuming now,that the Thomas cook rep denied this even after checking with her bosses,,i wish i had thought of joining this website before i went ,having already visited the island 4 times i thought i knew it all,how so wrong,thanks again Walker,

Thanks Ravima ,i,m just flabbergasted at these reps lack of knowlegde ,i mean mine couldn,t even speak a word of Spanish ,and then she has the gall to phone me up at my apartment before i left to make sure i ticked the excellent boxes

There are definitely Dentists in Playa Blanca (the one near the church is very good), but I doubt that you would get Dental attention at the Hospital. As far as I know, there is no free dental cover in Spain - certainly paying into the Social Security system doesn't get you any.

sorry to hear about that gary,it really annoys me that the reps dont know their ar*e from their elbows a lot of the time! they should be aware of the procedure by now.
it's right that you can go to any centro salud and receive medical care,also in the main Hospital General in arrecife just ask for emergencias and you will be assesed by a nurse and taken into treatment to see a doctor,just remember to take your passport with you aswell as the health card. hopefuly the next time you are on holiday you are never ill but if you are, at least you'll know more than the reps!!

Cheers Jude,just actually in the process of sending a letter to Thomas Cook about it ,

Don't be fobbed off by Thomas Cooks, they will try it on but stand firm and insist they refund you. It was their reps mistake after all. Good luck.
Ps I stood my ground with them for a similar reason and I got a full refund out of them, it will take a while but keep asking for it to be made into an official complaint.

Sorry to hear of your "experience". I have experienced the form of certain reps on the Island.

One was an absolute gem, "you can only visit Timanfaya National Park on an organised tour", when I asked about hiring a car for the trip, was told, "NO!".
Went to a car hire place, was given a map and directions to the park. This was 1989 but, used tour companies a few times and all they seem to be interested in is the COMMISSION they get. Maybe your rep got commission from Hospiten?

I also listened to 3 reps, laughing and joking about taking the British tourists for a ride, doing as little as possible and taking the money. This was overheard in a local spanish restaurant (I was chatting to my friend, a Colombian in spanish at the time) they didn't realise I was English for some strange reason.

I am not saying all reps are like this, and PLEASE, any reps reading this prove me wrong.

Go for it. Good luck.

Thanks for replies cymmon and jetaway,i must get to know you guys better , yea ,i am single dad of 2 , mum s gone awol,can,t get a job to fit inbetween school runs,and yes saved all year for our 2 week Lanz hol,so when kiddies back at school, i will take all my spare time ,which will be plenty, to pursue some sort of compensation,and i will keep you informed

def keep at it garry,just had some customers today who were told the same thing by their reps,luckily they asked for directions from us and i was able to divert them to the health centre,i'm also beginning to think the reps are on some sort of commision??? might have to investigate further!!! think you should suggest this when writing to thomas cook.

They ARE on commission, I worked as a tour rep with Atlanta tours.....
You get commission at each restaurant, each souvenir shop etc as you go around the Island. I'm not saying this is the same for every company but on the "reasonably low wages" they work for then they do need extra's to pay their way.

Just to confirm, dental cover in Spain is not covered on the Spanish NHS for anyone and not available at hospitals. The hospitals are only too glad to treat tourists with EHIC cards as they then claim the cost of treatment back from the UK and also get a higher allowance from central government.

That's amazing! I can quite believe that reps are on commission to get people to go to certain entertainment venues etc as in all resorts worldwide- It's been done to death on TV. But on commission from private medical outfits? Wow! I think it is just ignorance, which is nearly as bad. The reception at hotels should be able to tell guests where the local state-run health centre is.