Tissue trauma

While my wife and I were on holiday in Tenerife recently I came out of the shower and tried to clean my ears with a piece of tissue: not a great idea, as I soon discovered when I managed to get a large piece of the tissue firmly wedged in my ear.

My wife tried to remove it, without success. I told the hotel reception what had happened, they made a

telephone call and told me a doctor would be with me in 30 minutes.

Exactly 30 minutes later , the doctor arrived, asked what the problem was and proceeded to check my heart, pulse, blood pressure, lungs and oxygen levels. This took about five minutes. He then produced a pair of long , narrow tweezers and removed the offending tissue from my ear.

He wrote out a prescription for me to take to the local pharmacy and told me the cost of my treatment would be €80 (£62.67).

I paid him and he gave me a receipt. The prescription charge was extra, paid at the pharmacy — a lesson well learned for me, especially as it hit me in the pocket.

Had a similar thing occurred to a Spaniard in the UK, they would be able to walk into an NHS hospital and have the tissue removed at no charge.

When will those who are running the NHS implement an equal playing field? We’re all Europeans, but when a UK citizen abroad has a minor medical problem, a payment is due. Surely it should work in the opposite manner , too, especially when the NHS is in such dire financial trouble. BARRY RODWELL, Teignmouth, Devon.