'I feel alive again' says former Cork soccer player after hip replacement abroad he was told he'd have to wait years for in Ireland
Former Glasgow Celtic youth player Vincent Gallacher (61) says he feels alive again after he flew out to the upmarket Med city of Dènia for his operation.
A Cork man stuck on a waiting list just to see a consultant to get on another waiting list has spoken of his ‘shock’ when he discovered he could get a free hip replacement procedure in Spain.
Former Glasgow Celtic youth player Vincent Gallacher (61) said he feels “alive again” after he flew out to the Spanish city of Dènia for his operation.
The mechanical engineer, who hails from Ballinhassig, called the organisation Healthcare Abroad to arrange surgery under the little-known EU Cross Border directive in which costs are reimbursed by the HSE.
Mr Gallacher, who went on to play soccer in the Scottish, Canadian and Dutch leagues, says he began getting pains in his hip around 20 years ago.
“I was in my 40s, still playing amateur football and enjoying golf,” he said.
“I was loving life but every time I finished playing golf, I was taking anti-inflammatories. I was just masking the pain and the symptoms.” He said that after a while he realised he was taking anti-inflammatories “like jelly tots”.
“I had to stop playing golf as it became too hard on me.”
In 2012 Mr Gallacher was diagnosed with cancer and after his operation he was told he could no longer take anti-inflammatory tablets.
“That’s when it became really sore,” he said.
“I kept masking the pain with pills. And I really didn’t like taking pills.”
Mr Gallacher’s GP warned that the only way he could get a new hip any time soon was if he went private; and he didn’t like the idea of going private.
“If everyone can’t have it (healthcare) then I don’t agree with it,” he said.
“I just wondered what I could do. Last November I was told that private care was the only way I could be seen.” Mr Gallacher said he was comforted using private healthcare in Spain because the HSE funded his operation, making it essentially a public service available to all.
“It’s not easy getting a hip replacement but the pain I had was gone after the operation and the post-operation pain eases more and more each day.
“The best thing about the whole organisation is the age of the people in the hospital. It gives you a lift to see these young people; particularly the physiotherapists because the aftercare was outstanding.”
Mr Gallacher said he had never heard of the EU Cross Border Directive and hadn’t known he could get healthcare in another EU country, or that the HSE would reimburse some or all of the costs.
“Healthcare Abroad met me at Cork airport on the way to Spain, picked me up at Alicante airport and took us to a superb 4-star hotel in the lovely seaside city of Denia.
“I was a patient at a brand new €60m hospital called the HCB Denia. I met my consultant surgeon on day one who talked me through what would happen. I then had my bloods taken, my ECG done and x-rayed.
“My operation took place the next day and I stayed for three nights – then I had the physio during the second week,” he said.
Mr Gallacher said his GP had been happy to refer him for the surgery in Spain, as Irish patients just need a diagnosis and a referral letter from their doctor.
“My wife enjoyed the experience too; seeing me recover so quickly. The weather helps too – it’s so much easier to recover in the sunshine,” he said.
“I would say to anyone in pain to get on that plane to Spain. Call Healthcare Abroad. They even do all the paperwork.”
Any treatment offered by the HSE can be treated abroad under the EU legislation which is enshrined in Irish law, and Healthcare Abroad Ireland works alongside the HSE to assist patients through the cross-border scheme at 86 hospitals in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
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