Just to add, if your knee-jerk reaction to the idea of a fully dematerialised public payment system by 2022 is “what about people who are computer illiterate”, the government is very aware of that issue and is putting plans in place
https://www.vie-publique.fr/eclairage/18930-dematerialisation-quelle-politique-pour-les-exclus-du-numerique
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An interesting article Anna, thanks x
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Sorry, I can’t resist a little morning rant here.
You read that link, and other stuff about France’s public information system project, and you realise what an ambitious scheme it was, how far they’ve got with it and how well, overall, they’re keeping to schedule (yes there have been hiccups, such as the ANTS roll out, but all solved now), and especially, you appreciate the government’s transparency; all the studies and reports are published and made available to the public, including reviews of what went wrong and what problems are anticipated.
Then you compare it to the UK’s current government and its broken promises and half-assed plans and its obsession for keeping everything secret, telling the public only what little they think it needs to know, and if there are any problems they deny them and cover them up and bury the reports. Hard to imagine the UK having the intelligence and ability and far-sightedness to even draft up a workable plan on anything on this scale, let alone to then have the competence and stamina to stick to the plan, stick to schedule, stick to budget and roll it out stage by stage over decades.
And when Corbyn thinks long-term and picks up on the same issue that the link above is about, the issue of lack of computer access holding people back, and plans to do something about it, Brits can’t get their heads round it. They think it’s far-fetched. The idea of a government actually having an ambitious strategy to overcome a problem once and for all, rather than trying to patch it up or put it off so that it can be swept under the carpet again, seems foreign to them.
I think the UK has come to have very low expectations of its government.
OK done ranting now.
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Rant away, I’d upvote that rant 10x if I could 
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As has the rest of Europe/world
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A huge thank you to everybody.
Slip posted and DDs set up for next year…
Does anyone know if I will get a fine? Received the bill over a month after it was due??
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If you have explained that it is only just received (which you could put in an email if not enclosed with slip) I reckon no fine this time… fingers crossed.
Let us know if they do fine you and we will advise you how to claim.
I doubt it very much, as not your fault, there have been huge delays this year with the new system being set in place.
I’m sure you’ll be fine.
Not fined 
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I was at the Doctors a month or so ago and he was having trouble setting up a new broadband faciltiy for his new surgery but somehow, the present surgery was without broadband at all, consequently he could not access patients files. He finally got it sorted after a 90 minute wait we were seen and he said ‘I do envy the British administration, it is so much more efficient that here’. I was gobsmacked.
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I think our MT is in a similar position, Elizabeth. She works single-handed with zero support staff, and works full time six days a week. I sometimes think she has no time to blow her nose.
She isn’t yet linked in the the DMP system so nothing about my medical history or pathology results are accessible to me although I signed up for DMP months ago.
I don’t think the poor woman has time to set the system up, and she has no receptionist or nurse to share the admin burden.
I too applaud the French initiative to tackle l’illectronisme (is this even a recognised concept in UK?), and it shows up the UK as grossly inadequate in the field of social service provision across the board.
Hate to say it but this is not adequate or safe in the 21st century.
I think that there are still a fair few single handed GPs in the UK, the numbers are dropping as GPS retire and the practices close and/or merge, it’s just not viable in the modern world.
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Surely, patients in France have their own “medical dossier” at home, mountains of papers and dvd’s (in some cases) - I’ve amassed quite a forest’s worth 
Now that Ameli-DMP is up and running, I have been uploading such stuff to my personal DMP (takes a while, but I’m getting quicker).
Today, I was notified by email that a new document had been uploaded. The document gives outline info on all medications and medical treatments I have received in the past 2 years. … phew that’s saved me a job.
I can’t disagree, but it’s the norm in rural France. There are billboards on every access road to our town inviting health professionals in all categories to locate in our Commune with many incentives to do so. We have 2 MTs, a dentist and two independent optometrists in our town, and the commune has less than 3 000 inhabitants, so we are relatively well endowed.
Fortunately a new woman Romanian MT is joining the local practice in February thanks to a huge effort by our Maire and his council, so things are looking up.
Despite decades, and despite it assertion of freedom of movement there are differences between EU member states that would be of benefit to all if adopted by the EU.
The General Data Protection Regulation is common to all states. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 covers food standards. Food production is separate. There is increasing animal welfare concern on the practice of force feeding geese. A practice that is prohibited in some countries.
Spain has a national complaints system “Hojas de Reclamaciones” that applies to restaurants, bars, shops, service provides including solicitors, and many other businesses. The enterprise displays a notice at the trading place inviting customers who have a complaint to ask for a complaints form and officially register their complaint. “http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/information/hojas-de-reclamaciones-official-consumer-complaint-forms/”. Only once in over ten years have I had poor customer service in Spain. “Au contraire” customer service is excemplaty. Both the UK and France would benefit from a similar system.
The UK has had the “Freedom of Information Act” since 2000. It is “pull” but cab be used to obtain information that would otherwise require an electron microscope.
I share Anna’s concern that governments ( not just the UK ) apply a need to know criteria and the regard the general public as unable to understand the information even if presented at 20/200 visual acuity. The media treats the public in a similar manner and promotes “at the best” half truths in order to sell their publication. In my experience much that a government deems “secret” is embarrassing rather than a threat to security.
I suggest that the real issue is accountability. There seems to be a need for a blame culture. Someone -person- is responsible and should be punished / made to pay for the error. Often the error is collective and the general public may have some responsibilty in their rush to point the finger before insisting that the lessons learnt are transformed into auditable action with the objective of reducing / eliminating the risk of the disaster.
I suggest that part of the solution is ensuring that our education system celebrates critical questioning and reasoning. The “Sport on Sunday” tabloid approach to titilate its readers with the outrageous, implausible should be an anathema.