Letters: We have been without a GP or dentist for years in France
Connexion readers share their experiences of living in a 'medical desert'
Access to medical care can be difficult, especially in rural areas
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To the Editor,
We live in Lot-et-Garonne and can confirm how difficult it is to sign up to local medical services.
We live around 3km from Cancon and tried to register with the medical centre there.
We were told we were 'hors zone', despite it being the nearest centre to us, and to try Issigeac (30 minutes’ drive away)
It was only due to the intervention of CPAM, who told us that the centre was talking rubbish, that we were able to register with Cancon.
Finding a dentist was even worse. We tried to register with 15 different options within 30 minutes of home and were refused each time as they were not accepting new patients.
We were finally accepted by a practice in La Reole (Gironde), which is over an hour away.
We put our names on a waiting list for three other practices nearer to us over three years ago and have never been contacted
Mark Haynes, Lot-et-Garonne
Read more: What is in the law proposed to ease France's GP shortages
To the Editor,
My experience of the French medical system is both long (30 years) and broad (I have helped my parents, my husband, and numerous anglophone immigrants).
Most of my friends are French, and we have often discussed the difficulties in finding a medecin traitant, as well as the extraordinarily long waits to get appointments with specialists.
Vaucluse, where I live, is known as a “desert medical“, but it is worryingly difficult to find a doctor and waits at the local A&E departments are never less than four hours.
The village where I live, of 6,000 inhabitants, had no GPs at all for a period of about five years in spite of valiant efforts by the maire.
I would like to register with one of the two new GPs in the village, but they are no longer accepting patients. The same goes for the GPs in neighbouring villages.
In short, getting appropriate medical care in this department is very, very difficult.
Dr Nicky Whitaker, Vaucluse
Do you live in a medical desert? How far do you have to go to see a GP or dentist? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com
