Children's Healthcare in Valencia: Paediatrician, Vaccines, Insurance
Moving with children? Register each child in SIP; registration carries no fee. If the family is insured or a beneficiary of the National Health System, choose a paediatrician and centre; the request can be filed throughout the year. The Valencian calendar gives the hexavalent vaccine at 2, 4 and 11 months. Whether private insurance opens public care is not confirmed.
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Emergency: call 112.
How does a child get a paediatrician?
Register the child in SIP first; the paediatrician comes second. SIP registration is open to anyone resident in the Comunitat Valenciana. On the standard route, you state your habitual residence in a Valencian municipality, which requires being on its padrón. Registration carries no fee.
Register online with a digital certificate or Cl@ve. Without them, go to the health centre nearest your home. After an online request, collect the card or the inclusion document at the health centre for your place of residence. The SIP card guide covers each route by status.
Choosing the doctor has its own conditions. You must be an insured person or beneficiary of the National Health System and hold the SIP card. Users have the right to choose a doctor and a centre after adequate information, on the terms set by regulation. The head of the basic health zone resolves the request within 15 working days, and you can file it throughout the year.
Two limits apply. A request is refused when the chosen doctor already looks after more people than the population assigned per doctor, or than the waiting list allows. A choice at a centre other than the one assigned from your padrón does not bring home visits; those stay with the original centre.
Centre de Salut Ruzafa, Carrer de Sant Valero, 8, is one of the city’s health centres.
Carrer de Sant Valero, 8, L'Eixample, 46005 Valencia, Spain · Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)
Appointments and emergencies
Book by phone through the number on the SIP card or 96 183 90 00. The Sanitat app or website also books and cancels appointments. Show the SIP card at public care centres and pharmacies.
In an emergency, the Valencian 112 takes calls from anyone in the Comunitat Valenciana, including people who need health care. For non-urgent questions, the 012 phone service answers Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 19:00, and from 08:00 to 16:00 in August.
Which vaccines does a child get, and when?
One Valencian calendar sets the doses by age. A resolution updated it for 2026, effective the day after its DOGV publication. The paediatrician confirms which dose is next.
| Age | Vaccine |
|---|---|
| 2, 4 and 11 months | Hexavalent: hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio |
| 2, 4, 6 and 11 months | Pneumococcal, 20-valent |
| 2, 4 and 12 months | Meningococcal B |
| 4 months (born from 1 January 2026) and 12 months | Meningococcal ACWY |
| 12 months | MMR, first dose |
| 15 months | Chickenpox, first dose |
| 2 to 4 years | MMRV, second dose |
| 5 to 6 years | DTPa/IPV booster |
| 12 years | HPV, one dose; MenACWY dose |
| 14 years | Td booster |
School-age children (5 to 12): the DTPa/IPV booster comes at 5 to 6 years, and at 12 years one HPV dose plus a MenACWY dose.
Rotavirus is given in 2 doses (RV1 at 2-4 months) or 3 doses (RV5 at 2-4-6 months), depending on the vaccine used. Infants are immunised against RSV with a monoclonal antibody under the current schedule. Flu: children from 6 to 71 months get one dose per season.
The MenACWY dose at 4 months applies from 1 April 2026, to children born from 1 January 2026. Infants turning 12 months from the entry-into-force date get MenACWY as the booster.
Hand over the vaccine record at the first visit. Use any contact with health services to review measles vaccination status and complete it if needed. The Dirección General sets the catch-up calendars by protocol or instruction.
What does private insurance on a non-lucrative visa change?
Insurance is a visa condition; it does not close the door to SIP. Non-lucrative residence needs health insurance. Renewal needs insurance kept during the authorisation and continued.
The consulate in London asks for a certificate from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, covering all the risks insured by Spain’s public health system. The same page accepts the S1 registration receipt.
A foreign national with private insurance asks for a SIP number at the nearest health centre. Bring identity documents such as the NIE or a passport. The padrón certificate is not mandatory. The result is an inclusion document showing the SIP number.
Does a SIP number mean public care?
Not by itself. The card does not prove recognised public health benefits if none are recognised when you use it. The choice of paediatrician asks for insured or beneficiary status plus the SIP card. A private-insurance family gets an inclusion document.
Whether that opens a public paediatrician is not confirmed. Three routes cover the gaps:
- A foreign national with private insurance that does not cover certain treatments (serious, supervening or infectious disease) may request ASU for those treatments.
- A person without a right to publicly funded care may obtain it by paying a fee under a special agreement, the convenio especial. It needs at least one continuous year of effective residence in Spain, another EU or EEA state, Switzerland or the UK immediately before the application.
- After a convenio is granted, you get a temporary inclusion document, and the convenio covers health care except pharmaceutical costs.
Before you cancel any policy, read the convenio especial guide and the public vs private healthcare guide. The family move guide sets the order of steps for the whole household.
Photo credits
- Photos and clips uploaded to Google Maps (Centre de Salut Ruzafa on Google Maps (opens in a new tab)) by Ricardo Pereira.
Step by step
- Register each child in SIPOnline with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or at the health centre nearest home; no fee.
- Collect the card or inclusion documentGo to the health centre for your place of residence.
- Choose a paediatrician and centreOpen to insured people and beneficiaries holding the SIP card; resolved within 15 working days and can be filed all year.
- Book appointmentsCall the number on the SIP card or 96 183 90 00, or use the Sanitat app.
- Check the vaccine scheduleFollow the Valencian calendar by age; ask the paediatrician about catch-up.
Not confirmed: Whether a child on a non-lucrative visa with private insurance gets a public paediatrician at public expense. The choice procedure asks for insured or beneficiary status plus the SIP card, and a private-insurance family receives an inclusion document. Ask at the health centre before relying on it.
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Common questions
Does a child need a SIP number before seeing a paediatrician?
To choose a paediatrician or centre you must hold the SIP card and be an insured person or beneficiary of the National Health System. SIP registration is open to anyone resident in the Comunitat Valenciana. Register first, then file the choice request.
How do I book an appointment?
Call the cita previa number printed on the SIP card, or 96 183 90 00. You can also book or cancel through the Sanitat app or website. Have the SIP number ready when you call.
What if the paediatrician I choose is full?
A request is refused when the chosen doctor already looks after more people than the population assigned per doctor, or than the waiting list allows. Ask for another doctor or centre; the request can be filed throughout the year.
Does my child get the MMR vaccine?
The calendar gives the first MMR dose at 12 months, the first chickenpox dose at 15 months and a second dose between 2 and 4 years. The second dose is given as the four-in-one MMRV vaccine.
Is the flu vaccine offered to children?
Children from 6 to 71 months are offered one dose per season. It is an injection from 6 to 23 months and preferably a nasal vaccine from 24 to 71 months. Older children are not named in the child entry.
Does the SIP card work abroad?
No. The SIP card does not recognise rights outside Spain and is not equivalent to the European Health Insurance Card. For a trip to an EU or EEA country, a holder requests that card from the INSS.
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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.
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