Healthcare

If you are ill: who should you consult?

If you get ill during your stay, you can consult a GP and, when appropriate, obtain medicine. In the event of a major problem, the emergency units in hospitals are open 24/24.

Regular doctor

When you consult a doctor for the first time in France, you must select a GP to be your regular doctor for the period of your stay. This means you will always consult this GP first before seeing a specialist, physiotherapist or having X-rays done.

The GP:

• will examine you: he will ask you to explain what is wrong, will listen to your heartbeat, take your blood pressure and look for any symptoms to identify what is wrong with you;
• after this, he will write a prescription according to his diagnostic: he will prescribe medicine that you can obtain at the chemist’s or else prescribe other medical treatment (blood test, physiotherapy, radiology, etc.).
  The regular doctor is the central figure in the French healthcare system:
• some medicine is only available on presentation of a prescription;
• if you consult a specialist without seeing your regular doctor first, you will be reimbursed less la Sécurité sociale.

Find out more about choosing your regular doctor

You must inform your social security centre who you have chosen as your regular doctor.

Chemist’s

This is where you buy medicine. Some medicines are available over the counter, which means you do not need a prescription. Examples are aspirin and some medicines for coughs and colds, etc. When you buy medicines over the counter at the chemist’s without a prescription, you will not be reimbursed by the social security.
Prescription medicines are only sold under authorisation from your regular doctor. This is the case for antibiotics, contraceptive pills and most strong medicines.

Emergencies

In the event of a serious problem requiring a quick intervention, you must go to the closest hospital emergency unit. These units are open 24/24.
If you are unable to get there yourself, call the pompiers (fire brigade) by dialling 18 on a landline phone or 112 from a mobile phone.