BLOOD TESTS

[PeterCD]

Advice please.........

My wife and I are planning to spend an extended period (July/Sept) at our house in the Charente Maritime - near St Jean D'Angely.

For a number of reasons my wife is taking a daily dose of warfarin and needs to have blood tests every 2/3 weeks to ensure the warfarin dose is OK.  Can anyone tell us the procedure for having blood tests in France - and what should be our first move?

Thanks in advance.............PeterCD

[Teamedup]

You will need a prescription to take to a lab here. I would hope that your own doctor's prescription would be sufficient, if it won't then you will have to see a french doctor to get one.

 

You will have to pay the lab  and so that you will get part if not most of these costs back you will need to contact Newcastle and get a separate E form for a pre existing condition.

 

ps you'll need your E111's as well as this other E form.

[Clarkkent]

INR for Warfarin dosage is a very simple test and should cost NOTHING like 140 euros, more like 10. A GP can always arrange this for you.

[Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie]

Re the cost: I've had two sets of blood tests done in the last month due to very high blood pressure.  The first test was a wide ranging test for everthing and costs about 120 euros.  The second test I had this week was a specific test to assess my medication and only cost 12 euros. 

 The lab I use is not set up with a carte vitale, they post you an invoice with the results (with-in 24 hours - amazing, test done at 2pm results in post the next morning) which I send a cheque for and they return a Feuille de Soins to send to CPAM (if you are on an E111 you send a copy of it to CPAM with the FdS).

I would think that you would need a 'prescription' from a French doctor to take to the lab. Are you able to interpret the results yourself? If not then you would need to see a doctor after the results are received as well.

Over the last 11 years I've had to have many blood tests and I have very 'difficult' veins that are not easy to get blood from and usually end up with having blood taken from unusual places . These guys at the labs do this day-in-day-out and they hit the bulls eye and took a load of blood in seconds

[Mysfloss]

I have had some blood tests this week and I asked the question if you needed to have a prescription before the tests would be done ,as I had assumed that you would need one.The reply was that you could come and have tests done with no presciption but there would be no reemboursement of the fees by the security social.The cost of a cholesterol test was 10€94 ttc.

How you would interpret the results  if you had not passed by the doctor is another matter though.

[edyth]

As usual things seem to differ in different departements.

I was at the doctor's surgery last week asking about filling in a "declaration de choix" for myself and husband and I asked about having a chloresterol test done. The doctor suggested having a full test for everything at the same time and he wrote out 2 prescriptions containing a list of about 10 or so tests on each. He gave me the telephone number of the village nurse and told me she would come and take the blood samples whenever it was convenient for us.

I rang her the next day and she came the following morning, took 4 samples from each of us at our kitchen table and delivered them to the lab. The cost in total for 2 people was 10.70€. The following morning we received the results by post which I assume we must take to the doctor for discussion/advice.

 

[Clarkkent]

It is not reasonable to compare tests for cholesterol levels with those for blood clotting time. INR is not a test to determine lifestyle but to prevent thrombosis. The short-term consequences of a cholesterol test are not critical, those of an INR most certainly are, as I'm sure Peter CD and his wife are well aware. The body has a low tolerance of Warfarin and its dosage must be supervised by a doctor.

If I were her, I would ask her UK GP for a statement about dosage and target INR to show to any French doctor. If she carries a card with dose information she should take this and the statement to a French GP at the first reasonable opportunity and rely on his advice.

Just go along to the nearest GP - or ask neighbours if they recommend one. The cost of the test will not be great, a few euros, and you will be reassured that you will be receiving appropriate advice.

 

[Chico]

Hi Peter,

 

I suggest your first step is to write to [email protected]  explaining the situation.  I did this last August and got a very helpful reply three weeks later.  This included the following which seems to cover your wife’s situation.

 

“From 1^st June 2004 UK residents who are temporarily visiting another European Union Member State are entitled to receive any necessary treatment which their state of health requires during their stay using their Form E111, on the same terms as an insured resident of the country being visited (providing the stay is for no longer than 6 months).

 

This includes on-going medical care for pre-existing conditions i.e. medication, blood tests and injections.

 

The legal basis for this can be found in Decision No. 194 of 17^th December 2003 – a copy can be posted to you if you provide me with your address.

 

Therefore, you will not need a Form E112. Please keep this letter together with your E111 when doing so. If necessary, show this letter to the doctor and/or the hospital.”

 

I suggest your next step is to speak to one of the laboratories near to your home in France or send them a letter or e-mail.  If you  need to find one while you are still in the UK, just put the name of the town or village and “laboratoire” in Google and you are likely to find several choices.  Ask them if they can accept a prescription from a UK doctor.  My own haematologist says the terms used are to an international standard, so this may be possible.  If not, your UK doctor may be able to give you a letter to a French doctor for him/her to write a French ordonance.

 

You will almost certainly find the service you get in a French laboratory beyond your wildest dreams compared to the UK.  They are likely to have someone who speaks English.

 

The report you get will normally be available the day after you give your blood sample.  It will be in a standard computerised form giving all the readings requested.  As these analysis machines are used all over the world it may be possible to ask for an English version of the report.

 

If you speak to your UK consultant or doctor he may say you can send him the reports to see if the dose needs to be changed.  He may even accept a French version as the terms are so similar.

 

If you wife does need to see a specialist in France it gets a bit more complicated, but at the end of the day she should be able to recover 60% or more of her outlays via her E111.

 

During a stay here last year I was taken ill and found to have cancer.  I spent seven weeks in hospital in Marseille and then had two months of treatment.  The hospital stay was paid for by my E111, the treatment was paid for by an E112 which had to be applied for, and since then any follow-ups which have coincided with a stay in France have been paid for by my E111.  The hospital and treatment charges were reimbursed 100%, but the follow-ups only 60%.

 

Tell your wife not to believe anybody who tells you the French medical system is fantastic.  It’s much, much better than that.

 

Best of luck,

 

Chico

 

[Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie]

[quote]As usual things seem to differ in different departements. I was at the doctor's surgery last week asking about filling in a "declaration de choix" for myself and husband and I asked about having a ch...[/quote]

He gave me the telephone number of the village nurse and told me she would come and take the blood samples whenever it was convenient for us

It's the same here, I can (and have) had the nurse to my home to take blood. He took such a long time to find my 'difficult' veins (and nearly caused me to pass out)  I decided that it is easier for me to go to the lab where they are more proficient at taking bloods    I think that this is the case throughout France. 

[Tony the Turner]

I am in the same position, ie needing regular tests to enable my coagulant therapist to stabilise my warfarin dosage.

I found a Laboratoire d'Analyse in Flers which opens 7am to 7pm! Ok it shuts for 2 hours at lunchtime. I just went in, showed my INR book and asked for an INR test. Within 3 minutes I was registered and sitting in the nurse's chair. The results were ready before the end of the day and the bill was 10,94 euros. When In went back for a second test two weeks later, the receptionist recognised me and this time I only had to wait 2 minutes!