WHETHER you are just visiting France, or live there, it is worth being aware of how to contact the emergency services should the worst happen.
If you struggle with the language, or are just not confident of getting your message across in an emergency situation, then the pan-European Union number 112 is worth keeping to hand.
NOW having a baby in France is not something I have experience of, but I know a mum who has.
Wendy Johnson has fired up a website to keep people in touch with her own story of having a second child and offers plenty of advice on the different procedures and steps involved.
Also a nice touch Wendy adds to her Having a Baby in France site is the note at the end of a story highlighting any costs involved.
WITH so many people leaving the UK to take up residence in other EU countries, including France, there are always dozens, if not hundreds, of questions to be answered.
SADLY the Toulouse medical practice set up by Brit doctors Huw and Judith Casson has had to close, their story was featured on the site a few months ago, see It’s a doctor’s life in Toulouse.
In a message on the Casson’s website they say there will be a British doctor working one or two sessions a week in Tournefeuille, to the north of Toulouse, but also their 24hr assistance telephone line is now closed.
A MOVE to France can open up new possibilities and opportunities, but at the same time many old worries and problems can surface.
There is an interesting article on the Daily Telegraph website that looks at the number of people suffering from depression, noting that the suicide rate in France is 2.5 times that of the UK.
Modern life can create stress and strain wherever you live, be it in a busy city or on the edge of a forest in the middle of the countryside.
THE impact of changes to the French health system on people heading to France who are under retirement age is beginning to look a little clearer.
The Daily Telegraph reports that for those currently in the system they will be able to remain in it, the tougher rules will apply to non-working foreigners, such as early retirees, who move to France after the end of this month.
The Sécurité Sociale website provides a more complete explanation, in French, with point number four highlighting the changes for those set to arrive in France.
For further information contact the English language service of France’s CPAM: +33 8 20 90 42 12 or CLEISS (France’s helpdesk for international mobility and social security): + 33 (0)1 45 26 33 41
Update 06/10/07)
Round up of French health changes
THE impact of changes to the provision of health care for those people living in France, who are under the retirement age and not working are beginning to crystallise.
The Connexions newspaper has followed up on its earlier story after speaking to the French Ministry of Health and the Department of Health in the UK.
TWO rather over the top articles from The Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph about changes to health cover for people living in France have caused distress amongst many.
Message boards and websites have been busy since the stories were published over the weekend as readers worried if they would continue to receive health cover.
Paris correspondent for The Times, Charles Bremner, has updated the earlier piece via his blog and the Internet French Property site has also written a more balanced feature about the changes.
FOR doctor Huw Casson the challenge of opening a practice in South West France meant tackling mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy, but he is already sharing pasties with colleagues and looking forward to a new adventure.
Huw and his wife Judith, also a doctor, have recently opened the Ville Rose Medical Practice, in Toulouse, and he believes the taste for new horizons can be traced back through his own family.
During the ‘National Disability Week,’ arranged by APF (Association paralysés de France’ the subject of integration of disabled people in the work place was high on the agenda.
Jean- Christophe Parisot, a new ministerial delegate in the ministry of Employment and Disability Integration, is the first disabled person (a tetraplegic due to myopathy) to become a political scientist and has at hand the figures relating to the number of disabled people employed by the ministry. Of the 40,000 disabled people employed, 22,000 are teachers, making Education the highest employer of disabled people in France. The figures correspond to 3.17% of disabled people, whereas the law passed 11 February 2005 proposed 6%.