Hi
I am Val. My husband, Ron, was diagnosed with mesothelomia at the end of Nov just days after his 61st birthday. We currently live in France and I thought that as well as recording my feelings and fears it might be of interest to others to know how the French system differs from the NHS. It is a good service and waiting times are virtually unknown but I am not sure that I would rate it at no 1 in the world as some publications would have you believe. It is also not free.If you are affiliated to the system you pay about 8% of your income over a threshold. A visit to the doctor currently costs 22€ and a call out starts at 38€ for a daytime one plus extra for night or weekend and travel is also charged. You have to pay this upfront as this is how the doctor gets his money I believe. The government repays about 70% of the cost and your top up insurance (another cost of anything up to 120€ a month for a couple) repays the remainder. Medicine costs are similarly funded.
The NHS looks better now does't it?
Having said that I can't fault the treatment Ron has received so far. After a false diagosis of a pulmonary embolism late September he suffered a pleural effusion and had a scan, biopsy and talc treatment early November. Following diagnosis at the end of November he has had a course of three sessions of chemo at three weekly intervals. We now have a wait for the last session to work and then another scan.
I will follow up with more thoughts on treatment, French hospitals etc.
