Charity says 2,300 foreigners a day are refused medical treatment or forced to pay

In its report, The impact of the medical care reform on the right to health, which Chairman Álvaro González is due to hand to the State ombudswoman Soledad Becerril, covers 254 cases reported in Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, the Canary Islands and Navarra, plus 250 from the Madrid region alone and 290 others from the Balearic Islands – a total of 12 of Spain's 17 federal regions – in the last 12 months since the PP government restricted healthcare entitlement to legal residents in work, on benefits or pensions, or registered as self-employed only.

The national branch of Médicos del Mundo say their own figures are increased by those gathered by Médicos del Mundo Valencia and another 49 associations and charities, which show 398 cases between December 2012 and June 2013 – a six-month period.

Most cases relate to non-EU foreigners who do not have residence cards, although several complaints relate to pregnant women and to children, as well as patients in A&E, being ordered to pay before being attended to, despite the fact that under-18s, pregnancy, childbirth and women post partum, and all emergency conditions are still covered irrespective of a resident's status or nationality.

More and more Spanish nationals on a low income or a State pension call on the charity 'desperate for help' because they cannot afford the prescription costs for essential long-term medication now that contributions have been increased for all patients and retirees over 65 have always had their drugs free.

But the charity says even more cases may be hidden behind closed doors, since Spanish people in particular do not want to mention these problems as they are ashamed to admit they are in a 'very difficult financial situation'.

On October 1 this year, a new requirement for patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer, hepatitis or HIV will be expected to pay towards their drugs dispensed in hospital.

A recent study in the magazine PLOS Medicine, covering Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, says such a charge on necessary long-term medication would 'reduce access to essential care' and have 'negative consequences on human health'.

Evidence has already shown, according to PLOS Medicine, that fewer and fewer people are taking their medication for high blood pressure now they have to pay towards it, or pay more than previously, and that the greater the cost, the more patients are coming off their necessary prescription drugs.

Médicos del Mundo says 2,300 people are 'excluded' from State healthcare every day and that 873,000 people's health cards have been confiscated since September 2012.

Madrid-based campaign group Yo Sí Sanidad Universal says according to regional government figures, a total of 39,099 foreigners in the city and greater suburb areas have seen their entitlement to State healthcare withdrawn and many are forced to pay or refused emergency treatment where doctors do not consider their need to be life-threatening.

One resident, Mustafa, 31, has lived in Madrid for eight years without having a residence card, and has always been treated on the health service until a year ago.

He was refused attention in A&E when he walked in with a severe cut to his hand, even though he was dripped blood.

Members of Yo Sí Sanidad Universal say they accompany residents with no healthcare entitlement to doctors' and hospital appointments and consultations and attempt to provide financial assistance where necessary.

They also try to persuade doctors and nurses to defy the healthcare reform and treat patients who need it even if they do not have a legal right to the service.