Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

HEALTH

France records 6th consecutive daily fall in coronavirus intensive care patients

France has for the sixth day in a row seen a fall in the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care but the pandemic "remains very active" said the country's health chief.

Published: 14 April 2020 19:30 CEST

France records 6th consecutive daily fall in coronavirus intensive care patients

Photo: AFP

France's Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon confirmed that the country “has seen a plateau for several days now, but the pandemic remains very active”.

In his daily briefing, Salomon revealed that 541 deaths in hospital have been recorded in the last 24 hours.

The figures were up from the 335 and 315 recorded over the previous two days, but followed a pattern seen in recent weeks of lower figures reported at the weekend followed by a spike on Monday. Easter Monday is a public holiday in France.

Daily figures were not available for deaths in care homes, but the total number of hospital deaths now stands at 10,129 while deaths recorded in care homes stand at 5,600, taking the overall figure to 15,729.

France is one of the few countries in Europe to include deaths in care homes in its official statistics, Spain, Italy and England only count deaths in hospital in their official coronavirus death tolls.

Once again, the total number of patients in intensive care fell, down 91 from the previous day marking the sixth consecutive fall. Experts say this figure is crucial as it provides an indicator for the days to come.

It is against this background of a plateau in the number of deaths and steadily falling intensive care rates that France has begun to talk about lifting its strict lockdown rules.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday night told the nation that lockdown will be extended until May 11th.

But he also laid out a roadmap for the gradual reopening of schools and businesses, if the health situation continues to improve and people continue to obey the lockdown rules.

READ ALSO France's coronavirus lockdown – what happens next?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

The different ways you can make a doctor's appointment in France

You do not need a carte vitale to book a doctor’s appointment in France – anyone who needs medical help while in the country is entitled to it, but you may not be entitled to any reimbursement if you are not part of the social security system.

Booking a GP’s appointment can be as simple as phoning up your friendly neighbourhood GP, or using an online service such as Doctolib.

It helps a lot, if you have a médecin traitant – an attending GP, who adds you (and your family, if they can) to their list of patients.

READ ALSO Explained: How to register with a doctor in France

It is not always easy to find one. Some parts of the country are short of GPs, which means doctors’ lists can fill up very quickly. But it is important that anyone who lives in France is registered with a named GP, especially if they have a carte vitale.

As well as being the main point of contact between patients and the medical profession in all its guises, it is financially responsible to be registered with a GP in France.

Reimbursement on consultations is typically 70 percent through the French healthcare system, but just 30 percent for anyone without a declared doctor. Meanwhile, top-up mutuelle health insurance companies usually require you to declare a médecin traitant and if you don’t, you may not be able to receive reimbursements on certain treatments.

Bear in mind, it is your responsibility to register with a local médecin traitant. But, even after you have done so, you can still make an appointment with any doctor, anywhere in France, and arrange specialist treatment, if you need it.

READ ALSO 5 things to know about visiting a doctor in France

How do you go about making a GP appointment in France?

There are several options.

Some health centres – more often in larger towns and cities – operate a walk-in policy. But expect waits to be lengthy. Do not, however, assume that your GP operates a system like this.

You can phone for an appointment. This is another very common method. Your GP will have their own system for making appointments – which may even include something that looks, to the uninitiated, very much like a casual walk-in policy.

Some may have an assistant to deal with booking appointments and other administration. Others may deal with appointments themselves, and may – for example – operate some sort of triage system based on voice messages from patients.

What about online booking systems?

And many practitioners are now attached to websites, such as Doctolib. As of 2023, about half of all GP appointments in France were made using Doctolib.

READ ALSO How to use: French medical website Doctolib

Be aware that other online booking systems are available. Doctolib is one of the best known, but your GP may be attached to another system, like the health ministry approved site ‘LeMedecin.Fr’.

This website also has a feature where you can take an immediate online consultation with whatever doctor is available at that moment. By clicking ‘Consultez en vidéo maintenant’ you will be connected to the next doctor who is free. This option may involve an additional charge between €5-10 on top of the price of the consultation, and you will be expected to pay when booking.

If you have any trouble with either of these websites, you can go through the list of registered generalists per département on the ‘Ameli’ website. If you use this option, you will need to call the doctor to see if they are open or available for appointments.

In terms of wait times, online systems have helped to significantly reduce the delay between booking and getting an appointment.

According to a 2023 study by Doctolib, about half of all GP appointments were available within three days from the time of booking on their platform.

Similarly, you can use online platforms to check the medical professional’s qualifications and languages spoken, as well as filter based on the doctor’s English abilities. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt because not every medical professional with English listed on their Doctolib page speaks fluent English.

An increasing number of doctorsoffer video consultations, known as télémédecine in France. This allows professionals – particularly those in more rural areas – to diagnose less serious conditions remotely. This type of consultation is usually only available from those medical practices that are attached to online booking systems.

Some pharmacies have also begun offering walk-in télémedicine consults, using ‘Medadom’ machines. More information here.

What about specialists?

In France, you book your own consultations with specialists, even if you are referred by a doctor (your GP may offer a recommendation, but won’t always). The good news is that many specialists do use online booking services. Those that do not usually have assistants to take care of the appointments.

READ ALSO: Urgent care: How to get non-emergency medical treatment in France

Url copied to clipboard!