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Northern French communes ban swimming after beaches contaminated

Authorities in northern France have banned swimming at the beaches of Urville-Nacqueville, Ravenoville and Foucarville following a bacterial contamination.

Published: 18 June 2022 16:17 CEST
Authorities in northern France have banned swimming on certain beaches following a bacterial contamination.
Authorities in northern France have banned swimming on certain beaches following a bacterial contamination. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Many will regret that the sea is no off-limits – particularly in the midst of one of the country’s most severe heatwaves in history. 

On Friday evening the Regional Health Authority of Normandy warned of a bacterial contamination of three beaches along the Channel – Urville-Nacqueville, Ravenoville and Foucarville. The communes of La Hague and Sainte-Mère-Eglise then moved to ban swimming. 

Local decrees mention high levels of E. coli as well as Enterococcus in the water. 

Experts believe that the high prevalence of Enterococcus is likely due to sewage. 

“In the case of the Channel beaches, the fact that there is Enterococcus is a sign that there is feacal contamination in the water,” said infectious diseases expert Jean-Paul Stahl in a FranceInfo interview.  

The ban on swimming at Urville-Nacqueville will go on until at least Tuesday June 21st and will only be lifted if tests show that the contamination has settled down. 

The ban on swimming at the beaches of Ravenoville and Foucarville will last until June 30th. 

Other contaminations

France has suffered other bacterial contaminations in recent days. 

On Friday, residents of Châteauroux in the Indre département were warned to stop drinking tap water after high levels of E. coli were detected. 

The exact source of the outbreak is unknown.

Among the many hypotheses put forward by scientists and local officials is that there has been some kind of sewage leak or that somehow bacteria from an abattoir entered the water supply – E. coli is often found in the intestines of cattle. 

Children and infants are particularly vulnerable to the bacteria. Local officials have banned the bathing or showering of these groups until the water is deemed safe. 

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HEALTH

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

Booking a medical appointment in France can be time-consuming – especially if you are new to the country and are looking for an English-speaking doctor.

Published: 13 May 2024 16:52 CEST
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

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