I have never felt sordid about paying someone their fee… 
I’m not sure why you should feel like this (although I accept that you obviously do)…
It ought not to be about the personal nature of the doctor-patient relationship, Stella, which is (or should be) solely about health, not commerce or public administration.
I have always believed that my Healthcare here in France was fully funded by HMG, as provided for by the terms of my S1 certification. That is obviously not the case. Why not?
Obviously, you do not appreciate how the French Medical System works… Not that I do,necessarily…
I just know that my Doc (and the whole support system) is there for me as and when needed and that I must pay something along the way… and most, if not all, is refunded one way or another via Social and Mutuelle… and I do bear the balance if any…
I am guessing that the Social part is what HMG is covering… (if the governments actually do balance their books).
This is the official explanation…
“The certificate means that you will get access to health care in France on the same terms as French nationals. You will not need to pay French social security health contributions.”
No. You make copayments as per the French rules because you are using the French system.
A French person on an S1 in the UK would get free-at-point-of-delivery healthcare paid for by France, because that is UK rules and they are using the UK system.
That is a strange thing to say. How can you dissociate a service from its cost? Doctors in France are self employed people earning a living, and patients are customers. It’s a normal customer-provider relationship. Healthcare has a cost, patients need to know that cost because they have to pay it, and doctors understand their position. There’s no use suggesting a treatment your patient can’t afford.
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I spent several years on prescribed medication which required visits to my MT every three months, I saw it as a regular ‘check-up’ as he always took my blood pressure, pulse etc. For the sake of a Euro I thought it was well worth it.
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The S1 system is europe-wide and entitles you to the same healthcare as a national and resident of the specific country you are in. So in the case of France you will have to pay between 0 and 100% of each bill depending on your circumstances, your mutuelle cover, and the specific illness you have and treatment you need.
With all these nuances one person’s situation can appear to be very different from that of another.
And small rural doctor’s surgeries often don’t have the income to pay for a secretary. I don’t find paying my MT grubby, quite the reverse as it’s an honest transaction and I would find it a bit Victorian to pretend otherwise. A bit like hiding curvaceous piano legs.
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LOL, made me laugh. But I agree.
AFAIK it’s normal to pay your dentist in the UK so why should it seem grubby to pay your doctor?
I thinks it’s an ingrained and misplaced mental habit. As a young student nurse in 1956 at Hackney Hospital in London’s East End it was commonplace for patients admitted to hospital to say that they wouldn’t be able to pay. Some even refused the food offered as it would “go on the bill”.
I know I draw on old experience others can’t share but it runs deep in me. For me, money and medicine don’t mix, although I know there is a cost that has to be met, and I don’t begrudge it. Why should I? I am a still a nurse at heart, and it’s not for the money. My starting wage was 7 pounds a month bed and board paid.
The relevance of the S1 to entitlement is well set out, thanks, and better understood. Not before time, it seems! 
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Fair enough, yes I kind of get that. In hospitals the practicalities are dealt with by the admin staff not the medical staff. It’s an entirely different relationship because medical staff in hospitals mostly aren’t self employed, therefore the patient isn’t their customer. The patient is the hospital’s customer, and the doctors and nurses work for the hospital. So the financial arrangements between the patient and the hospital are none of their business. If the patient doesn’t pay the bill it’s not the nurse’s or doctor’s problem, they still get their salary.
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