Stella, I do not know of any opticians near here that do the full range of eye testing comparable to that done by opticians in UK.
If you go back to UK and are over 60 it is totally free in UK.
Hi Jane… our nearest one happens to be in the next town (9km)… and he has 3 other outlets elsewhere in the region…
I hardly ever go to the UK… no reason why I should 
my life is here and UK is not my choice of a holiday destination… but , everyone is welcome to come and visit us… and they do… 
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I took my mother to her UK optician last October who told her that her cataract op was urgent, he offered to make the arrangment there and then with the local eye clinic, no wait.
What would be best is for each system to learn a few things from the other…so a bit more competition in the whole opthalmic system in France could stimulate supply and lower prices, same with pharmaceuticals. And a bit more reality in UK about the cost of an adequate health system…
Totally agree Jane, whilst we’ve had fantastic treatment here we’re aware that things are changing as budgets are being tightened. Both our daughters work in the health sector here (one private. one public) and there is a definite difference between the two.
That’s exactly my point Tim.
Of course everyone is different, but the last time I went back to the UK was 18 years ago to bring my mother over here to live with me.
As you say Stella everyone is welcome to visit 
I am happy and contented here and have no reason to go back for visits to the UK, certainly not for a holiday !
For the sake of anyone seeking info/reassurance about Retiring and Moving to France…
It is quite clear from the above conversations… that one’s Health situation is an important subject… and needs to be carefully considered… and adequate funds budgeted by each and every one of us, according to each situation and preference.
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You can do exactly the same here if you walk in to Lunettes pour Tous!
Going back to UK is not a holiday it is a few days to visit close friends.
It does not feel like home and that is very sad.
But I had known how England was not for me some years back.
So my plans were in place for a long time…just had to wait for the right
moment.
@james is also a big fan of bulk buying when things are on special offer. I sent him off to Lidl for beer yesterday and this is what happened…
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Looks perfectly reasonable to me 
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That’s what having spent time living in Tamworth does for you Catharine.
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I collect olive oil and mineral water!
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I hope that all it well Jane.
Actually I was going to make this point and Jane’s experience only goes to underline it - X-Ray reporting and interpretation is a skill and if there is pressure to rush it things will be missed or interpreted incorrectly.
A more important point is that the radiologist, though very skilled and an integral, indeed indispensable, part of the team, is not a specialist in treating what they diagnose - for this reason it is better to go through the results with your specialist, who is better placed to tell you what needs to be done about whatever has been shown even though, inevitably, there will be a delay between the two appointments. In some cases this will also be to allow review by a full multi-disciplinary team to co-ordinate the best and most appropriate treatment.
I can’t say what happens elsewhere but locally the GPs are linked in to the hospital reporting system so will get the results as soon as they are available, I think but am not 100% sure that they also get access to the x-ray images using the electronic system but, really, a primary care physician should not be interpreting images themselves but waiting for the formal report from a radiologist. In the acute setting (e.g. if you turn up in the emergency department with a broken leg) images are reviewed by the clinician on the spot who might then make management decisions based on their judgement but even these should be fully reported by a radiologist down the line to make sure something subtle has not been missed.
For your father possibly either depending on how bad the cataract was and how much it was affecting his sight, and how much of a disability that was to him. Suppose there had been complications to the surgery and you later found out that it could have easily been delayed without much impact - how would you have felt then?
There seems to be a good bit of NHS basing by expats (some of whom have been out of the UK for many years) - this even happens on SF. I know the NHS is not perfect and I know that recently the budgets have been squeezed too much and Brexit has poisoned the well from which many staff are drawn but some of the things I hear about the French system do not strike me as terribly good care.
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I hope you are sending him back tomorrow to get some more.
This is normally my next to the fire winter wood storage space:beer:
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Pity he didn’t take the trailer…could have bought a whole lot more… 
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Love the variety, I’ll bring my own.
Hi Paul… you raise a reasonable query…
I’m having an x-ray done Monday morning… then I’ll question my Doc about him preferring to read the x-rays etc himself… before he reads the blurb.
Let’s get it from the horse’s mouth…
Well I can’t really answer that as my father died before the op was due… he was diagnosed with cancer, many months after complaining of unbearable pain, and the lack of care he received was appaling. I won’t go into it here but quite frankly I wouldn’t let an animal suffer the way he did.
Lack of care for my mother after a RTA, and 2 operations in the UK, badly done, led me to bring her here to France. The moment my doctor saw her the response was 'well I have read that things were bad in the UK, but quite frankly for me the level of care your mother has received can only be described as belonging in the middle ages".
Sent to the CHU in Limoges where we spent 8 weeks, they went all out to bring my mothers health up to what they considered normal care.
I am an immigrant and I cannot fault the health system and care here in France. I speak from a lot of experience, not from heresay !
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