HEALTH
- SOCIAL SECURITY - HYGIENE IN THE
COUNTRY
No vaccination is
obligatory. In England, French speaking doctors are
quite rare.
The National Health Service (N H S):
this is a public medical service which is
independent of the State. It is available to
everyone and totally free of charge.
The General
Practitionner (the GP) : In England you have to be
registered with a GP of your choice (although it is
not always clear that there is a choice!) from the
doctors listed in your area, a list that you can
get from the Town Hall or the post
office.
Each GP has a
maximum number of patients. He deals with normal
sick cases and judges if a specialist is
necessary.
The Specialist :
Patients can never directly approach a
Specialist. You have to go through a generalist who
gives a letter of introduction addressed to the
specialist, the specialists practise in the
hospitals.
The hospitals
: They admit urgencies and cases for surgical
operations (and hospitalization whatever the
reason), as well as specialist
consultations.
Medicines :
Generally a fixed sum is asked, medicine is
free in certain cases (children under 16, pregnant
women and for a year following the birth, retired
people, handicapped people, etc).
The Dentist :
Certain care is free, but in the same way as
for the GP you have to be on a list.
Private doctors
: In the private medical world you can choose
you own doctor, but you pay for him and the fees
are usually very high. However, this does avoid
waiting lists for the hospitals and you benefit
from the comfort of clinics and private
hospitals.
Animals : There is no longer any rabies in
Britain and the authorities intend to keep it that
way.
Quarantine regulations have recently
changed.
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