Healthcare in France when you don't speak French

1. What to expect

No rule in France requires a doctor to speak anything other than French, and no register tells you reliably who does. Training, generation and patient mix all play a part, and the result is unpredictable from one practice to the next.

Geography shifts the odds without settling anything. In large cities, in university hospital areas and in regions that live from international tourism, more practitioners have declared a second language on their professional profile — but whether one of them is free at the moment you need care is subject to medical availability.

So plan for the harder case: everything below assumes the person in front of you speaks French and nothing else. If it turns out otherwise, you will have prepared for nothing — ten minutes, at no cost.

2. In an emergency

15 reaches the SAMU, the French emergency medical dispatch. 112 is the European emergency number, free from any phone including a foreign mobile. 114 is for people who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing or unable to speak, and works by text message and by video.

About language on these lines, be careful what you assume. The European Commission says that operators in many countries can answer 112 calls in English as well as the national language — that is a statement about Europe in general, not a promise about any particular call you make in France. No French official source states it. Dial 112 if you would rather try in English; keep the five words below in reach in case you cannot.

• Urgence — emergency
• Médecin — doctor
• Ambulance — ambulance
• Inconscient — unconscious
• Il ne respire pas — he/she is not breathing

Then give the address slowly, twice, and stay on the line: an address and the word urgence start a response even if nothing else gets through. If someone near you speaks French, hand them the phone at once.

3. Prepare before you need care

This is the section that changes the most, and it costs one sheet of paper.

The written summary

Write down, first in the language you think in and then translated into French: your symptoms and when they started; your ongoing treatments; your allergies; your chronic conditions; any surgery in the past year; and, if you are pregnant, that you are. Translate it with any tool you like: a rough translation of accurate facts beats a polished translation of vague ones. Keep it on paper too — phones run out of battery in waiting rooms.

Name your medicines by their molecule

This is the most useful trick in this guide, and it rests on French law rather than luck. Every medicine has an international name for its active substance — the dénomination commune internationale in French, the INN in English — created by the World Health Organization and identical in every country. Brand names change at every border; the molecule name does not. On a French box it is generally printed under the brand name, and since 1 January 2015 French prescribers are required to write prescriptions using it. So write your treatments by molecule, not by the brand you know at home, and a pharmacist or a doctor will recognise them immediately, whatever language you share.

A short French vocabulary to carry

Twenty-odd expressions cover most of a first consultation. Print them; do not rely on being able to scroll.

• J'ai besoin d'un médecin — I need a doctor
• C'est une urgence — this is an emergency
• Où sont les urgences ? — where is the emergency department?
• Je ne parle pas français — I don't speak French
• Parlez lentement, s'il vous plaît — please speak slowly
• Pouvez-vous l'écrire ? — can you write it down?
• J'ai mal ici — it hurts here
• Ça a commencé hier / il y a trois jours — it started yesterday / three days ago
• Ça a commencé brutalement — it started suddenly
• J'ai de la fièvre — I have a fever
• J'ai du mal à respirer — I am having trouble breathing
• Je suis allergique à… — I am allergic to…
• Je prends ce médicament — I take this medicine
• Je prends un anticoagulant — I am on a blood thinner
• Je suis diabétique — I am diabetic
• J'ai de l'asthme — I have asthma
• Je suis enceinte — I am pregnant
• Une ordonnance — a prescription
• Sans ordonnance — over the counter
• Une pharmacie de garde — the duty pharmacy, open at night or on Sundays
• La feuille de soins — the paper form your insurer will want
• Le compte rendu — the written report of what was found and done
• Combien ça coûte ? — how much does it cost?
• J'ai besoin d'un justificatif — I need a document for my insurer

Your phone, offline

Download the offline French pack of your translation application before you travel: waiting rooms and basements have poor signal precisely when you need it. Test the camera mode too — pointing it at a box or a form beats typing.

4. Where and how to look

Online booking platforms. The main French appointment platforms let practitioners declare the languages they use and display them on the profile, though obtaining an appointment with one of them is subject to medical availability. Treat a declaration as an indication rather than a commitment: finding a profile and being seen by that practitioner are two different things.

Your hotel or your host. Reception desks in tourist areas field this question constantly and often know which nearby practices are used to international patients; whether the practitioner they name can consult in a given language remains subject to medical availability. Ask them to telephone on your behalf: a call made in French gets an appointment that the same call in English might not.

Your consulate or embassy. Several foreign missions in France publish lists of medical facilities and practitioners for their nationals. Read the disclaimer that comes with them: the British Foreign Office, for instance, states plainly that its information is impartial, that none of the providers listed are recommended by it, and that you should do your own research before choosing. These lists are a starting point, not a referral.

University hospitals. Large teaching hospitals in major cities concentrate international patients, research staff and, in some establishments, interpreting arrangements. That makes them a reasonable bet for a complex problem — while a consultation held in a particular language remains subject to medical availability.

5. Getting understood in the consultation

Bring someone. A friend, a colleague, a member of hotel staff who can spare twenty minutes: someone at ease in both languages transforms the appointment. Ask the practitioner first — most agree readily, and some will ask the companion to step out for the examination, which is normal.

Interpreting services exist, unevenly. Some French hospitals have arrangements with professional interpreters, by telephone or on site, particularly in large urban establishments. Many do not. Ask at the reception desk rather than assuming either way, and ask early: an interpreter booked for a scheduled appointment is far easier to obtain than one summoned in the middle of a consultation.

Use paper, and use your hands. Point at where it hurts, and draw the shape of the pain if you cannot name it. Write numbers rather than saying them: dates, doses and durations survive badly when spoken and perfectly when written. Show the box rather than describing it.

Written medical English travels further than spoken English. Medical vocabulary is largely shared across European languages, and a practitioner may well read a written summary in English without being at ease speaking it — though a consultation actually conducted in English remains subject to medical availability. Hence the sheet of paper from section 3.

6. Consulting by video

A video consultation removes the journey and the waiting room, and lets you hold your notes and your medicine boxes up to the camera. It changes nothing about emergencies: for an emergency, call 15 or 112, never a booking form.

Some teleconsultation services display the languages each doctor has declared, which lets you filter before booking; a consultation conducted in one of those languages is subject to medical availability. Read carefully what is being promised, because two different things are often presented together: the language of the interface is not the language of the consultation. A booking page translated into six languages tells you nothing about the practitioner who will appear on screen, and a service that is honest about the difference is telling you something useful about itself.

DotKtor connects international visitors with independent doctors registered in France; its interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and the consultation is subject to medical availability.

7. Understanding what you are given

You will leave with paperwork, and all of it will be in French. Knowing what each document is saves a great deal of anxiety.

L'ordonnance is the prescription. Written in molecule names, as section 3 explained, so you can decode most of it yourself. Take it to any pharmacy in France.

La feuille de soins is the paper form recording the consultation and the amount paid. It is the document your insurer will want. Do not lose it and do not leave it on the desk.

Le compte rendu is the written report of what was found and done — you get one after a hospital visit or an examination. It is the document to give to your own doctor at home.

L'arrêt de travail is a sick note, if you need one for an employer or an insurer. Ask for it during the consultation: obtaining one afterwards, from another country, is difficult.

Photograph each of these as you receive them, before they get folded into a pocket. A pharmacist will read an ordonnance aloud for you and explain the doses; asking is completely normal.

8. At the pharmacy

The pharmacy is the least intimidating door in the French health system, and often the most useful. Pharmacists are trained health professionals, they advise on minor problems, and they are used to travellers arriving with a box and no vocabulary.

Ask by molecule. Say or write the international name of the active substance rather than the brand from home, and you will be understood immediately. If you have the box, show it: the molecule name is printed on it.

The leaflets are in French. The paper inside a French box is not translated. Photograph the composition and dosage sections and translate them with your phone: that vocabulary is technical and regular, which is what translation applications handle best.

Look at the pictograms. French boxes carry standardised symbols — a triangle for effects on driving, a pregnant silhouette for use in pregnancy. They require no language at all, and they are worth a glance before you take anything.

Consulting a doctor by video while in France

If you are staying in France and would rather consult from where you are, DotKtor connects international visitors with independent doctors registered in France for video consultations. The interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, the consultation is subject to medical availability, and the fee is shown before booking. A teleconsultation is not for emergencies: in an emergency, call 15 or 112.

Book a video consultation

Local information pages, city by city:

• Nice
• Paris
• Cannes
• Marseille
• Lyon
• Antibes

Frequently asked questions

Can I have a consultation in English, subject to medical availability?

Sometimes, and it cannot be counted on. Nothing obliges a practitioner in France to work in any language other than French, no list will tell you reliably who does, and a profile that declares a language is an indication rather than an undertaking — any consultation held in a given language remains subject to medical availability. Prepare the written summary from section 3 and you will manage either way.

Can I bring someone with me?

Yes, and it is the single most effective thing you can do. Mention it when you arrive; the practitioner may ask your companion to step out during the physical examination, which is routine and not a rebuff.

Are interpreters available?

It varies by establishment. Some hospitals, mostly large urban ones, have arrangements with professional interpreters on site or by telephone; many have nothing. Ask at reception, and ask as early as possible — for a scheduled appointment rather than in the middle of one.

Does 112 handle calls in English?

The European Commission states that operators in many countries can answer 112 in English as well as the national language. That is a general statement about Europe, not a promise about a particular call in France, and no French official source confirms it. Try it if you need to, and keep the five words from section 2 within reach.

Can I use my phone to translate during the appointment?

Yes. Nobody will object, and practitioners see it regularly. Download the offline French pack before you travel so it works without a network, and use the camera mode on boxes and forms rather than typing them out.

How do I say I am allergic to something?

Je suis allergique à… followed by the name of the substance — using the international molecule name if it is a medicine. Write it as well as saying it, and repeat it at every stage: at reception, to the nurse, to the doctor.

Will my prescription be in French?

Yes. Prescriptions issued in France are written in French, and since 2015 the active substances must be named by their international name, which is the same in every country — so the important part is already legible to you. Any pharmacy in France will read it and explain the doses.

Will my medical report be in French?

Yes. Reports are written in French, and nothing obliges anyone to translate them for you. Ask anyway, politely, at the end of the consultation — a written summary in English is occasionally possible, subject to medical availability. Otherwise take the French report, photograph it, and translate it for your own doctor at home.