For Irish hip and knee patients
Your Operation in Weeks, Not Years.
We arrange your hip or knee replacement at a leading hospital in Spain, and the HSE pays the hospital's bill. You pay nothing for the operation.
Kaare answers the phone himself, Monday to Friday, 9 to 6.
[PHOTO: a woman in her seventies walking on a beach in warm daylight, mid-stride, not looking at the camera]
The wait today
The Wait in Ireland Today
2,954
people are on the public waiting list for a hip replacement in Ireland.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, inpatient and day-case list, July 2026.
4 in 10
of them have already waited more than six months.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, July 2026: 39.8% waiting over six months.
1 in 7
has already waited more than a year. The list has doubled since 2020.
National Treatment Purchase Fund, July 2026: 14.3% waiting over twelve months; 1,404 on the list in 2020.
How it works
How It Works
Three steps. We do the work, you have the operation.
We check that you qualify
One phone call. We confirm that you are on a public waiting list and that your operation is covered by the scheme.
We book everything
Your hospital in Spain, your surgeon and your dates. We handle all the paperwork with the HSE, and we help you book your flights and hotel.
You have your operation
You fly out, have your operation, and come home to recover. Your follow-up care happens in Ireland, as it would after any operation.
Every EU citizen has the right to be treated in another EU country and have their own health service pay for it. In Ireland the HSE runs this as the Cross-Border Directive scheme. We make it simple to use.
What it costs
What It Costs You
€0
for the operation
Ablement pays the hospital. We claim the money back from the HSE under the Cross-Border Directive. You never pay the hospital, and you never wait for a refund.
Our fee is paid by the hospital, not by you. That is how we can offer this for nothing.
You pay for
Your flights to Spain and your hotel. We help you book both, and we tell you the price before you decide.
You do not pay for
The operation, the surgeon, the hospital stay, the paperwork with the HSE, or our time.
2,158
people had treatment in another EU country repaid by the HSE in 2025.
HSE Cross-Border Directive scheme, 2025. [CITATION TO CONFIRM BEFORE LAUNCH]
[PHOTO: Kaare, outdoors, daylight, looking at the reader]
Who is behind it
Who Is Behind It
Ablement was started in 2026 by Kaare Beck-Fischer. It is his fifth company, and the ones before it were in health technology.
He is based in Denmark and works with hospitals in Spain and patients in Ireland. In the first year he handles every case himself, so the person you speak to on the phone is the person who arranges your operation.
Ablement is a private company and is not part of the HSE. The HSE runs the Cross-Border Directive scheme; we handle the arrangements and the paperwork.
Book a call
Book a Free Call
Leave your name and number and we ring you within one working day. We do not ask about your health on this page; that conversation happens on the phone.
Prefer to talk now?
Ringing for a parent?
Many of our calls come from sons and daughters. That is fine. We will explain everything to you first, and then to your mother or father, in their own time.