Right now in Nova Scotia all eyes are on Hurricane Fiona. The storm will arrive on the week-end, and my honest thought at this moment is: will we arrive on October 6th and find that the house that I haven’t even actually visited yet no longer has a roof?
Hopefully Fiona will skim past our part of Nova Scotia and just hammer Cape Breton instead.
Today though was another small adventure in french health care. Up til now my entire healthcare experience has been:
Online doctor appointment to renew prescription
Visit to pharmacie to pick up the prescription
COVID-19 boosters.
Today though I actually had go into a lab and get a blood test. I had to deal with a real medical person face to face.
My immediate first thought was “Wow, this place is nice!” Clean, bright, modern, with friendly, helpful staff. And no battered vinyl chairs in the waiting room! I was honestly reminded that medicine in North Vancouver has always been rather scruffy.
And no line-up at 8 am on a week day.
My lab is private, but so is LifeLabs in BC. Again, and this is actually common in France, my feeling is that the difference is that French corporations are willing to take one or two percentage points off of their profit margins and instead spend it on customer service. The sense that there are things that matter beyond maximizing profit is strong here.
I didn’t get the feeling that the goal was to push through as many patients as fast as possible; felt that it mattered that I feel cared for, and that a few extra minutes to slowly explain things to me in simple French was worth it.
Now admittedly, getting a family doctor in France is reportedly no easier than it is in Nova Scotia or BC. A news story today explains why BC has no family doctors: it’s because thirty years ago the government concluded that there were too many family doctors, and that they were costing too much, so they cut back dramatically on how many new doctors could get established.
I mean, who could have foreseen that thirty years later a whole lot of family doctors would hit 65 and start to retire? At the same time that a whole lot of Baby Boomers would hit the point in their lives where they needed lots more health care?
French healthcare is a funny mix of private and government, as is the health insurance system of Carte Vitale and mutuelle, but somehow it feels as if they’re all working together instead of the private sector attacking, and hoping to destroy, the public system.
" ... French corporations are willing to take one or two percentage points off of their profit margins and instead spend it on customer service. The sense that there are things that matter beyond maximizing profit is strong here."
Barry, have you ever considered running for a local political position once you return to Canada? I believe your insight could be helpful