How do you organise your medication when you stay in a second home?

What to do about your prescriptions, your doctor and your tablets when you spend weeks or months in your second home, so your treatment stays the same.

If you spend time in a second home, you can collect your medication from any pharmacy in another Spanish region with your health card, thanks to the interoperable e-prescription system. The key is to leave with your prescriptions renewed, register as a temporary resident if your stay is long and take your medication with you.

Moving house for weeks or months breaks your routines, and it is easy for a prescription to expire or for a box to be left in the other home. We explain what to prepare before you go and how to keep your treatment the same as at home.

Can I collect my medication from a pharmacy in another Spanish region?

Yes. Thanks to the interoperable e-prescription system of the Spanish National Health System, you can collect from any pharmacy in another region the medication that was prescribed electronically in your own. According to the Ministry of Health, you only need to show your personal health card.

There are some exceptions: the Ministry notes that certain compounded medicines, pharmacy preparations and individualised vaccines can only be dispensed in some regions. If you take any of these products, or a medicine collected from a hospital pharmacy, sort it out before you leave.

Remember that the same time limits apply as at home: the next box of a long-term treatment can be collected from 10 calendar days before the previous one runs out, according to Royal Decree 1718/2010.

What if I need to see a doctor during my stay?

With your health card you are entitled to care during your stay in another region. If you are going to spend a season there, the usual step is to register as a temporary resident (desplazado) at the local health centre: in the Community of Madrid, for example, you apply for the Documento de Asistencia a Desplazados (DAD). Each region has its own procedure, so ask at the nearest health centre.

• Bring your health card, your ID and your up-to-date medication list.
• If you take a medicine that needs regular monitoring (for example, some anticoagulants), arrange with your doctor where and when you will have it during your stay.
• For long stays or if you change address, ask the health centre where you are staying about your options.

The most practical approach is not to depend on the local health centre to renew prescriptions: before you leave, check which prescriptions end during your stay and ask your doctor to renew them. We explain how in how to renew your long-term prescriptions in time.

What do I need to prepare before I go?

A simple checklist avoids most problems: active prescriptions, enough medication for the first few days, your medicines list and what you need to store them properly. This table sums up what to do at each stage.

If your second home is on the coast or you go in summer, bear the heat in mind: many medicines must be kept below 25 °C or in the fridge. There is more in how to store your medication in summer. And if your second home is outside Spain, see travelling abroad with your medication.

Is it a good idea to keep a supply of my tablets in each home?

Better not for long-term medication. Keeping boxes in two homes makes it easier, months later, to take a dose your doctor has since changed, a duplicate tablet under another name or an expired medicine. The safest option is for your medication to travel with you and to have a single up-to-date list.

• Travel with your doses already organised, in a pill organiser or whatever dosage system you use.
• If there is medication left over from previous stays in your second home, go through it with your pharmacist and take what you do not need to the SIGRE collection point at the pharmacy.
• Always carry your medication list. We explain how to make one in your personal medication list.

A practical example: Antonio spends the summer on the coast

Take the case of Antonio, 71, retired, who lives in Madrid and spends June to September in his flat in Alicante. He takes five medicines, including an anticoagulant that needs monitoring, and in previous years he ran out of a prescription halfway through the summer.

1. At the end of May he checks the end dates of his prescriptions in his health app and asks his GP to renew those that end before October.
2. He talks to his GP about monitoring his anticoagulant over the summer and how to do it in Alicante.
3. When he arrives, he registers as a temporary resident at the local health centre.
4. He collects his boxes from the local pharmacy with his health card, within the usual time windows.
5. He no longer keeps old boxes in the flat: his medication travels with him.

That way his treatment stays the same as at home and his summer does not depend on improvising at the pharmacy.

How can IMA Health help if you spend time away?

Having your medication prepared by dose makes taking it from one home to another much simpler and reduces the risk of mix-ups. At IMA Health we coordinate with a specialised pharmacy that prepares your medication by day and time of each dose, we deliver it to your home and we provide personalised follow-up.

If you spend time away, talk to the IMA Health team so you can plan deliveries together. You can find out about the service in the IMA Health service.

Sources

• Spanish Ministry of Health: National Health System e-prescription (in Spanish)
• BOE: Royal Decree 1718/2010 on medical prescriptions (consolidated text, in Spanish)
• Community of Madrid: Health card (care for people temporarily from other regions, in Spanish)

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from your doctor or pharmacist.