Hydrocephalus

[CSCosford]

How nasty this has become. We asked for relevant information in good faith and it seems to have become a slanging match for some.

Clocking off now, won't post again. We'll make our own way and decide for yourselves. We are NOT blaming illegal immigrants for our woes.

And ALBF...... Milton Keynes awaits you with pleasure.

[alittlebitfrench]

42 minutes ago, CSCosford said:

How nasty this has become. We asked for relevant information in good faith and it seems to have become a slanging match for some.

Clocking off now, won't post again. We'll make our own way and decide for yourselves. We are NOT blaming illegal immigrants for our woes.

And ALBF...... Milton Keynes awaits you with pleasure.

The uppermost Northen coast of Scotland with a couple of sheep will do me fine thks. Or Edinburgh. One of the two. I love Edinburgh. 

OH wants Scotland or Norway. Im equally taken by the Faroe islands. Its a tough choice.

But, at the end of the day one or the both of us will be immigrants and healthcare will always be the issue.

The world has changed.

Our neighbors want Portugal. They have had it up to here with Macron and France. They want to get out of France. And they can afford to live anywhere in France. You name a place in France…and they can afford to live there.

Choose carefully.
You might be better off finding a better place to live in the UK.
Whatever you are looking for in France…..it don’t exist .

[cajal]

Firstly, let me say, don't clock out as you will just be succumbing to the thoughts and minds of a couple of biased members and their postings. I believe you've received a lot of excellent advice from some very caring posters. That is worth far more than any negative minority posts, and remember lifestyle is subjective and not a one style fits all as some believe or seem to expect.

Have you ever considered returning to Evian and approaching your medical practitioners and the medical units you previously used? I know Evian fairly well from the time I lived in the Haute Savoie and there are certainly worse places you can live in France.

Anyway, whatever direction you select to pursue, I wish you well and keep posting as I am sure the majority will be interested in the progress and outcome of your endeavours. Good luck. 👍

[Lehaut]

14 hours ago, alittlebitfrench said:

healthcare will always be the issue.

Our son works with a Frenchman in Japan.  He and his wife are in the happy position of your friends ALBF.  They are moving back to France in the next couple of years and have bought a substantial dwelling in Fontainebleau.  She  has just been across to France to check in on the house and to find a medecin traitant for her and her son.  

No one will take them on.  At the moment she has him booked in with a paediatrician family friend as a stop gap - he retires soon so it won't be any form of solution.

My wife has one surgeon, two GPs and a pharmacy chemist in her family, all in Scotland.  Not much better there either.

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/gp-practices/funding-and-contracts/the-sustainability-crisis-in-gp-practice-in-scotland 

[Lori]

30 minutes ago, Lehaut said:

No one will take them on.

Hopefully they will find doctors once they arrive.  If it is anything like us, it will take a long time and a LOT of phone calling - delving out a good distance.  I never did find a GYN taking new patients.  I see a Sage Femme. 

Our MT and our Dentist - who took us on (thank God) upon my begging having called dozens and dozens with no luck, are not young either.  God forbid they should retire.  Heaven help us.

It really is VERY bad.

I wish the OP luck as finding medical care is extremely difficult and sometimes just plain impossible.

 

[alittlebitfrench]

15 hours ago, cajal said:

Firstly, let me say, don't clock out as you will just be succumbing to the thoughts and minds of a couple of biased members and their postings. I believe you've received a lot of excellent advice from some very caring posters. That is worth far more than any negative minority posts, and remember lifestyle is subjective and not a one style fits all as some believe or seem to expect.

Have you ever considered returning to Evian and approaching your medical practitioners and the medical units you previously used? I know Evian fairly well from the time I lived in the Haute Savoie and there are certainly worse places you can live in France.

Anyway, whatever direction you select to pursue, I wish you well and keep posting as I am sure the majority will be interested in the progress and outcome of your endeavours. Good luck. 👍

To be fair, everyone is reporting the same problems so it is not a negative minority. Everyone in France is reporting the same thing. It is never off the French news. If the OP does not like harsh reality posts then don’t ask a question.

The first thing you do before moving to or to another location in France is checkout healthcare facilities. Don’t matter if you are French or otherwise. Especially if you have serious health conditions. 
 

Im guessing that a lot of British have moved to France this year charmed by cheap houses and lovely views. I bet most won’t find doctors or any specialists that they may potentially need. If you are moving or thinking of moving to France, heathcare is your primary consideration when choosing a location to live. Especially if you have kids believe me. The view is not important. Living near others of the same nationality is not important. Gîte potential, not important. Healthcare is.

Our neighbor in rural Borgougne had a stroke recently. Because he was too far from a major hospital the stroke became a major stroke. Now he is back home and out of hospital his wife is struggling to find any of the necessary specialists needed to get his mobility and speech back. She can’t drive. And the nearest specialists (if you find one to take you on) are a good 150 kms away.

 

[Lori]

3 minutes ago, alittlebitfrench said:

The first thing you do before moving to or to another location in France is checkout healthcare facilities.

Don't just check them out.  We did that before our move from the Vaucluse to the Dordogne.  We thought locating the multiple hospitals in the region and noting that there were literally dozens and dozens of all types of doctors/specialists all over the region was sufficient research.  Not on your life (again literally).  It is one thing to know they are all there.  It is quite another to know if they are accepting new patients.  THAT was our major fail.  We did not call them all to ask.  Major, major mistake.

Of course, had we done that, we likely would have learned that no where in France (short of its major cities - where we didn't want to live) would we find doctors accepting new patients.

 

[DaveLister]

I've just read this article. Apparently around 30% of the population ( 20 million people ) are living in a désert médical. It's now affecting small cities, not just the countryside.

https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/chimie-pharmacie/quand-le-desert-medical-avance-960531.html

 

[alittlebitfrench]

1 hour ago, Lori said:

Don't just check them out.  We did that before our move from the Vaucluse to the Dordogne.  We thought locating the multiple hospitals in the region and noting that there were literally dozens and dozens of all types of doctors/specialists all over the region was sufficient research.  Not on your life (again literally).  It is one thing to know they are all there.  It is quite another to know if they are accepting new patients.  THAT was our major fail.  We did not call them all to ask.  Major, major mistake.

Of course, had we done that, we likely would have learned that no where in France (short of its major cities - where we didn't want to live) would we find doctors accepting new patients.

 

Fair point.

[menthe]

Those were the days when, if you didn't like your MT, you could just find another one and the new doctor wouldn't even ask you why you wanted to move to his list!

I even had the temerity to fall out with my oncologue and (at the insistence of the lady who fitted me out with my wig), I simply changed to another, more sympathetic and more polite one.  Wouldn't be able to do that now.

So it IS about sheer luck.  We are lucky, we both have MTs (different ones in different towns) we like and all the specialists we need.  Also lovely nurses who come to the house to take blood, change dressings etc.  I have to drive about 7 or 8 km to seek out our very kind and knowledgeable pharmacist who is always willing to recommend treatments and tide us over with essential drugs that we need should we not get to our doctors or specialists before the medication supplies run out.

It could be because we do not live in a "popular" part of the Dordogne, certainly nowhere near Bergérac!  Also we do not have many tourists, even at the height of the season.  Used to have many more Brits and now most seem to have disappeared with the houses they left behing being bought by French people from big towns like Paris or Tours and other regions like the Provence.

ALBF is right about looking for available health facilities being THE most important thing if you are moving.  I will also add that you live somewhere that is easily located and accessed by ambulances and other emergency vehicles.  Having neighbours is also good.  I have neighbours who were born in our village and many friends who have lived here for, I don't know, ever.  I had lots of ready and very quick help when I needed it recently, thank goodness.

[NormanH]

There's none so deaf as those who will not hear 

 

[menthe]

Hear or not, reality would soon sink in and the inevitable will need to be grasped.

Just getting around looking at different options of house and locations will require, energy, money, loads of time and freedom to travel around.  Then there is all the kerfuffle inherent in moving, with an ill person in tow.

Personally, I don't think it can be done but I will be delighted for the OP if she achieves what she so clearly wants.