Paediatricians and Children's Health with Sanitas
The thing British and Irish parents find surprising is how long a Spanish child stays with a paediatrician. Not just babies and toddlers – a paediatrician normally looks after a child up to around 14 or 15, where at home they would have moved to the family GP years earlier.
So the specialist your six-year-old sees for a chest infection is the same one your thirteen-year-old sees. That continuity is one of the better things about the Spanish system.
You book them yourself
No referral, no going through a family doctor first. If your child is unwell you ring a paediatric clinic and take the first appointment they have.
For parents used to phoning at eight in the morning to fight for a slot, this is usually the single biggest practical difference private cover makes.
What they deal with
Everything from the ordinary to the serious. Repeated ear infections and tonsillitis. Chest infections and childhood asthma. Rashes and allergies. Feeding and weight worries in babies. Development and growth checks. Sleep problems. And the general "something is not right and I do not know what" appointment, which is a perfectly good reason to book.
Vaccinations follow the Spanish childhood schedule, which differs from the British and Irish ones – worth going through at the first appointment if you have moved mid-schedule, so nothing gets missed or duplicated.
The two rules about children and policies
A child under three cannot be insured on their own. There has to be an adult on the same policy. This catches out grandparents trying to arrange cover for a grandchild, and separated parents where the child lives with the other one.
Under-threes cost more than older children. On Mas Salud in Madrid a baby is €139.70 a month against €79.16 for a three-year-old – nearly double. It is not a mistake and it is not Sanitas being difficult: babies and toddlers use healthcare far more than school-age children do. The price drops sharply on the third birthday.
Waiting periods
Appointments, standard tests and vaccinations are covered from the day the policy starts. Complex diagnostic tests carry six months. Surgery needing a hospital bed carries ten – so grommets or a tonsillectomy that has been building for a while will not be covered immediately on a brand-new policy.
Anything urgent is covered from day one. A child with a broken arm or a serious infection is covered whether the policy is ten years old or ten days.
See every Sanitas waiting period in one place, including how switching from another insurer waives nearly all of them.
Where the paediatricians are
790 clinics across 48 provinces, with 1,489 named paediatricians between them – and you can book any of them yourself, without a referral.
- Barcelona – 116 clinics, 199 paediatricians
- Madrid – 103 clinics, 294 paediatricians
- Seville – 53 clinics, 127 paediatricians
- Valencia – 51 clinics, 116 paediatricians
- Malaga – 44 clinics, 72 paediatricians
- Murcia – 31 clinics, 61 paediatricians
- Cadiz – 25 clinics, 37 paediatricians
- Tarragona – 23 clinics, 31 paediatricians
Two provinces have none – Ceuta and Palencia – so check what is reachable before you assume.
Language at the appointment
Language matters more here than in most specialties, for a reason that is easy to miss: a small child cannot explain their own symptoms, so you are doing it for them. Getting that across in a second language, with a distressed toddler in the room, is harder than it sounds. Ask us and we will check who is near you and what languages they work in.
What you pay at the appointment
Nothing on a plan without co-payments. A small fixed amount per visit on a co-payment plan – worth thinking about, because small children generate a lot of appointments in a year.
Find a paediatrician near you
Browse paediatricians in the Sanitas directory – by province, with addresses, phone numbers and a map.
