17 November 2013

.......so, I'm back with much to report on things French. A few weeks ago our local doctor strongly recommended that I undertake a coloscopy (don't ask!) and gastroscopy. The following week(!) I was duly admitted to the Claude-Bernard Clinic in the nearby town of Albi.   I was welcomed and shown into a single room, complete with wardrobe, TV, phone and en-suite bathroom!  Nurses brandished a laptop with all my details. Patients are responsible for bringing the prescribed medicine, purchased at the local pharmacie (no clanking trolleys laden with drugs), costs borne by your carte vitale, plus antiseptic shower soap. Next the dreaded bit: drinking 2L of what tasted like the entire contents of Droitwich Brine Baths - with the inevitable after-effects....oh well. At least I wasn't presented with a torpedo tablet: I'm s'posed to put it where?? The general anaesthetic was much improved from my youth. I felt a warm rush from the catheter in my arm, then fell instantly asleep. And guess what?  No sickness, no after-effects.  After a while to recuperate, I was wheeled back up to my deluxe suite.  Best of all, within one hour I was presented with a glossy folder, complete with colour photos of my insides and a report covering reasons for operation, the procedures effected and the eventual conclusions + prescription for ongoing medication. TG: no cancer, but surprisingly I have 'beance cardiale' - the valve between the oesophagus/stomach doesn't work - probably congenital. It's only taken me 65 years to find out! The French health system? Merveilleuse.                         

23rd May 2010

Should America follow the NHS system or the carte vitale, as in France? Following the passing of the new US health bill, Former CNN news anchor Veronica de la Cruz visited France to find out. She found that the French don't really understand the American system, so she told them: 'give me your carte vitale, now work out how you are going to pay for your health care - that's what it's like in the US'. Veronica's own brother Eric died in the US whilst waiting years for a heart transplant. He couldn't get insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
The NHS was originally a brilliant post-war idea, with its universal free health care for all, but it fails if there are too-many people, especially a top-heavy old v young working population, calling on its services. Many English now follow my brother Robert's example and avoid hospitals at all costs by following his simple rules: don't sit down for more than 2h at a time, walk around a bit and go to bed early.
France was ranked no. 1 by the World Health Organisation, so Veronica wanted to find out why. And then she found out the hard way: her taxi hit a scooter, injuring her head. Despite being a foreigner, the Paris hospital saw her right away and did tests. And the cost? 22 euros! And they said they would send the bill to her address in NY. In the US you can't even walk in the door without an insurance card, and even with one, it would have cost her $10,000.
Well done France!