health

[Cliodhna]

Can anyone give me any information about the quality and expertise of medical help at the hospital in Montpellier, either personal experience or other. I would be very grateful.

Cliodhna.

[Gardian]

Cliodhna ................

My wife has MS (it has affected her sight, rather than her motor skills) and was referred by our GP to the Hopital Gui de Chauliac at Montpellier. This is the Explorations Neurologiques et Epileptologie hospital within the vast complex there.

She sees the senior Professor there, who speaks fluent English and couldn't have been more helpful. He has continued her UK-originated drug treatment and sees her 6-monthly. Happily, no deterioration in her condition.

The staggering thing is that his fee for a 30 min consultation is c.€70 and this is refundable at 100% - we normally had to pay c.£85 in the UK, with no refund. We hand over the money and he puts it in to a little tin box! When I expressed incredulity at his tiddly fee, he said that when he attends international conferences, the British consultants all have a good laugh at how little he is able to charge. By the way, a chunk of that goes to the hospital and he gets taxed on the rest.

Overall, excellent experiences, but this is just one faculty of many - it might well be different in others, depending on your medical problem.

Just one other issue for your health going there though: traffic on the NW side of the city is a nightmare because they're ripping the place apart to build a new tramway system. Finding the right building is less than straightforward, so allow plenty of time to get there / find the right building: the complex covers c. 30 sq kms I reckon. Once you do find the right one though, at least you don't have to pay a fortune to park: it's free.

If it's neurolgy and you'd like any more specific info, don't hesitate to email. 

[opas]

It all depends on which Hospital you are going to there.........We have been to La Pyronie and Arnaud Villeneuve, but there are so many complexes in Montpellier.

Our experiences have all been excelent, from waiting times, treatment follow up reports, inpatient, Ops even the food is pretty decent and the cleanliness is second to none.

Our youngest has a very rare syndrome and is treated there with  the same excelence of expertise that she was treated with at Manchester Pendlebury and St James Leeds.