AMF Mixed TopicsWed-21-04-2021, 10:40 AM
Yesterday I had my first experience of visiting a French hospital for an appointment.
It was at the Department of Ophtalmologie (odd how French has 'Opht...' and English has 'Opth...') at Limoges CHU.
I used the relevant link on the website to email for an appointment and wasn't unduly surprised when, 24 hours later, I had still received no reply. However, on emptying my postbox, I discovered a letter (printed on photocopied headed notepaper) giving me the time and date of my appointment - in 7 days time. Recent experience in the UK for a similar appointment yielded a waiting time of 8 months.
I know Limoges spreads its hospitals over a wide area, so I then went back to the hospital website to discover exactly where the eye clinic was located. There was no direct information, but by searching other sites I eventually tracked it down to somewhere in the main building. At least I now knew which of the many buildings to aim for!
My second experience was trying to find out where I could park. On the hospital website, the only info I could find related to arriving by public transport. Much googling later, I discovered a public car park a 3 minute walk away.
When I arrived, an hour before my appointed time, I asked at reception where the clinic was located and set off down several corridors, eventually finding the right place. Still 50 minutes early. Inevitably, a queue...
About 10 minutes later, I presented myself at the desk and had a very confused conversation with the receptionist. She was about a metre away, behind a perspex screen, wearing a facemask. And she had a quiet voice. It eventually dawned on me that I should have taken a booking-in ticket from a machine in reception and then "follow instructions". Feeling a bit dazed, I made my way back to reception where I eventually discovered the small ticket machine (like one of those at the deli counter in a UK suspermarket). It was attached to a small pillar in a 12m diameter walled-off waiting area in such a way as to be completely invisible to anyone entering the hospital. But I was still 30 minutes early.
After waiting for 50 minutes, my number came up on the single TV screen and I made my way to 'bureau A'. Confusingly, bureaux A to G were all in one room.
I had to hand over CV, ID (first official use of my CdS - hooray!) etc and then go through address, phone number, relatives, hamster's birth cerificate etc. But at last, I was given a sheet of sticky labels with my details on and I was free to attend my appointment.
Now 25 minutes late by the time I arrived back at the Ophtalmologie clinic, I queued again. When I arrived at the desk, they needed my sheet of labels (which they returned to me) before asking for and re-entering name, date of birth, address etc etc etc.
By now, I had missed my appointment time by about 30 minutes, so resigned myself to joining the back of the queue.
To my astonishment, I was taken for an initial inspection within 5 minutes and then had to wait a further 3 minutes (3 whole minutes!) to be seen by the specialist. By now I was quite relieved that he was keen to practice his English on me. The result was that my French eye biology vocabulary has improved dramatically! After a thorough inspection, he pronounced that all was well and I could go happily on my way
Now I know the system and I'm enrolled, I don't think I have to go through the 'ticket' process on subsequent visits.
However, the entire process was very much faster, and the department itself seemed much better equipped than the UK equivalent.
Are there any other French hospital stories out there?
It was at the Department of Ophtalmologie (odd how French has 'Opht...' and English has 'Opth...') at Limoges CHU.
I used the relevant link on the website to email for an appointment and wasn't unduly surprised when, 24 hours later, I had still received no reply. However, on emptying my postbox, I discovered a letter (printed on photocopied headed notepaper) giving me the time and date of my appointment - in 7 days time. Recent experience in the UK for a similar appointment yielded a waiting time of 8 months.
I know Limoges spreads its hospitals over a wide area, so I then went back to the hospital website to discover exactly where the eye clinic was located. There was no direct information, but by searching other sites I eventually tracked it down to somewhere in the main building. At least I now knew which of the many buildings to aim for!
My second experience was trying to find out where I could park. On the hospital website, the only info I could find related to arriving by public transport. Much googling later, I discovered a public car park a 3 minute walk away.
When I arrived, an hour before my appointed time, I asked at reception where the clinic was located and set off down several corridors, eventually finding the right place. Still 50 minutes early. Inevitably, a queue...
About 10 minutes later, I presented myself at the desk and had a very confused conversation with the receptionist. She was about a metre away, behind a perspex screen, wearing a facemask. And she had a quiet voice. It eventually dawned on me that I should have taken a booking-in ticket from a machine in reception and then "follow instructions". Feeling a bit dazed, I made my way back to reception where I eventually discovered the small ticket machine (like one of those at the deli counter in a UK suspermarket). It was attached to a small pillar in a 12m diameter walled-off waiting area in such a way as to be completely invisible to anyone entering the hospital. But I was still 30 minutes early.
After waiting for 50 minutes, my number came up on the single TV screen and I made my way to 'bureau A'. Confusingly, bureaux A to G were all in one room.
I had to hand over CV, ID (first official use of my CdS - hooray!) etc and then go through address, phone number, relatives, hamster's birth cerificate etc. But at last, I was given a sheet of sticky labels with my details on and I was free to attend my appointment.
Now 25 minutes late by the time I arrived back at the Ophtalmologie clinic, I queued again. When I arrived at the desk, they needed my sheet of labels (which they returned to me) before asking for and re-entering name, date of birth, address etc etc etc.
By now, I had missed my appointment time by about 30 minutes, so resigned myself to joining the back of the queue.
To my astonishment, I was taken for an initial inspection within 5 minutes and then had to wait a further 3 minutes (3 whole minutes!) to be seen by the specialist. By now I was quite relieved that he was keen to practice his English on me. The result was that my French eye biology vocabulary has improved dramatically! After a thorough inspection, he pronounced that all was well and I could go happily on my way
Now I know the system and I'm enrolled, I don't think I have to go through the 'ticket' process on subsequent visits.
However, the entire process was very much faster, and the department itself seemed much better equipped than the UK equivalent.
Are there any other French hospital stories out there?
