Ciudad Real General University Hospital: getting to your appointment from Puertollano, Valdepeñas, Alcázar, Tomelloso or Daimiel, and when your area hospital is the one
Ciudad Real province has four SESCAM public hospitals: Ciudad Real General University Hospital, the reference for many specialities across the whole province, and the area hospitals of Puertollano (Santa Bárbara), Alcázar de San Juan (Mancha Centro) and Valdepeñas. Specialist appointments, tests and referrals almost always end up in the capital, 40 km from Puertollano, 61 km from Valdepeñas, 99 km from Alcázar and 92 km from Tomelloso, and the morning bus does not arrive in time for a nine o'clock appointment. The transfer to the appointment is a car with a driver there and back, not medical transport: you book with the appointment time and the return with a margin, because appointments and tests run long. From Daimiel, from 51,29 €.
Written by Ridelta - Taxi y VTC · reviewed on 27 October 2026
Which hospital is yours depending on where you live?
The Castilla-La Mancha Health Service divides the province into areas: Ciudad Real and the Campo de Calatrava (Miguelturra, Almagro, Bolaños, Daimiel, Malagón, Manzanares) come under Ciudad Real General University Hospital; Puertollano and the south (Alcudia valley, Sierra Madrona) under Santa Bárbara Hospital; Alcázar de San Juan, Campo de Criptana, Tomelloso, Socuéllamos and Argamasilla under Mancha Centro General Hospital in Alcázar; and Valdepeñas, La Solana and the south-eastern villages under Valdepeñas General Hospital. Each handles emergencies, inpatient care and the basic specialities of its area.
What changes many patients' lives is the referral: for oncology, interventional cardiology, neurosurgery, radiotherapy and other specialities found only in the capital, the patient from Puertollano, Valdepeñas or Alcázar ends up at Ciudad Real General Hospital, and for some others at hospitals in Madrid or Toledo (the National Paraplegics Hospital, for instance). The hospital sets the appointment and the patient organises the trip. This guide is about that trip.
How do you reach Ciudad Real General Hospital and why is the bus no use first thing?
The General University Hospital is in the south of Ciudad Real, in the Ronda area, with paid parking and a city bus stop. From the province the problem is not finding it but the hour: specialist appointments start at half past eight or nine, and the intercity buses from Puertollano, Valdepeñas, Alcázar or Daimiel reach Ciudad Real bus station mid-morning, after which you still have to cross the city. For a nine o'clock appointment the bus means leaving the day before or not arriving.
Distances from the area towns: Puertollano 40 km and about 30 min on the A-41; Valdepeñas 61 km and 50 min; Alcázar de San Juan 99 km and 78 min; Tomelloso 92 km and 63 min; Daimiel 33 km and 25 min. They are car trips, not a day's travel, and that is what makes going to the appointment and back in the same morning reasonable.
What is a transfer to an appointment and what is it not?
It is a car with a driver that picks you up at home, drops you at the hospital door and comes back when the appointment ends. It is not medical transport: no stretcher, no medical staff, not prescribed by the doctor or paid by SESCAM, and no substitute for the scheduled ambulance that patients whose condition requires it are entitled to. It is the option for someone who can travel sitting in an ordinary car and does not want to, or cannot, drive, depend on a relative or wait for a bus that does not fit the appointment.
It works the same for companions: the person taking their father to the appointment who does not want to leave him alone at the door while parking, or the relative from out of town visiting the ward with no car in Ciudad Real. The price is per car and trip, not per person, and is fixed on booking; each route has its page with the "from" fare and the calculator gives the exact price with the address and time.
How do you book the return if you do not know when the appointment will end?
It is the usual question and the province page answers it: think about the return when you book the outbound trip. Appointments and tests tend to run long — blood tests with a wait for results, imaging that gets delayed, one appointment leading to another — and a rigid return time ends in nerves or waiting. What works is booking the return with an approximate time and a margin, and letting us know as soon as the real time is clear: the driver adjusts the pickup at the hospital door, which is a fixed, easy point.
For regular treatments — dialysis, chemotherapy, rehabilitation — the same trip repeats for weeks, and through the company's panel a recurring service can be agreed with a fixed price per trip for the whole cycle. And for referrals to Madrid, the guide to Madrid's hospitals from the province covers the route: 192 km from Ciudad Real, with the AVE as an alternative for anyone who can move around Madrid by metro.
And if the appointment is in Puertollano, Alcázar or Valdepeñas?
The area hospitals have the same problem on a smaller scale: well connected from their own town and poorly from their villages. Santa Bárbara Hospital in Puertollano receives patients from the Alcudia valley and the hills along mountain roads with no bus at appointment time; Mancha Centro in Alcázar, from Tomelloso, Socuéllamos or Campo de Criptana, with an inter-town bus on weekday frequencies, 35 km from Tomelloso; and Valdepeñas hospital, from La Solana and the south-eastern villages, well connected by the A-4 but with very few bus services from the surrounding villages.
All four hospitals are in the route engine from every town in the province, so the "from" fare is checked the same way for an appointment in Alcázar as for one in Ciudad Real. A useful detail when booking: name the hospital and, if known, the entrance (outpatients, emergencies, day hospital), because at Ciudad Real General and at Mancha Centro the entrances are separate and the difference is several minutes on foot that cost a patient.
Frequently asked questions
Is the transfer to the hospital medical transport?
No. It is a car with a driver to and from the appointment, with no stretcher or medical staff; it is not prescribed by the doctor or paid by SESCAM. Scheduled ambulances are requested at the health centre.
How much is Puertollano to Ciudad Real General Hospital?
The published "from" fare is 60,50 € for 40 km and about 30 min. The calculator gives the exact price with the address, date and time.
Is there a bus from Valdepeñas to Ciudad Real hospital?
There is a bus to Ciudad Real bus station on weekday timetables, arriving mid-morning; then you still cross the city. For a nine o'clock appointment it does not arrive in time.
Can the driver wait while the appointment lasts?
The usual thing is to book there and back as two services, with the return at an approximate time adjusted once the real one is known. The calculator gives the price of each leg; the return is collected at the hospital door.
Do you also cover Mancha Centro, Santa Bárbara and Valdepeñas hospitals?
Yes. All four hospitals are in the route engine from every town in the province, with their "from" fare on each route page.
Sources
- SESCAM · Gerencias de Atención Integrada de Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Alcázar de San Juan (Mancha Centro) y Valdepeñas (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real · cómo llegar y accesos (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha · transporte interurbano de viajeros por carretera (consulted on 27 October 2026)
Area organisation and referrals belong to SESCAM and may change; the appointment and hospital are set by the health service. Distances and times are those of the route engine in daytime with no incidents; the exact price comes from the calculator with date and time.