A new internet radio station has recently launched, providing music and chat for English speakers living in France >> Page 5
Limousin May 2016 - Issue #79
First NHS patients treated in France A hospital in Calais has become the first to treat patients from across the Channel under a groundbreaking deal that will see patients pay for their own transport to France, but have their care paid for by the NHS, slashing waiting times for many.
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British patient has become the first person to be treated under the NHS in a French hospital. Timothy Brierley lives in the village of Lyminge, Kent, just a 15-minute drive from the Channel Tunnel, and said prior to his operation that travelling to France was no less convenient than going to his local hospital, but claimed the difference in waiting times was staggering. Rather than a potential delay of up to 10 months, his routine gall bladder removal was performed in France after a wait of just a few weeks. The procedure was performed at the Centre Hospitalier de Calais, one of two hospitals that last year won the rights to provide ser-
vices for NHS patients. The hospitals signed agreements with South Kent Coast NHS whereby patients would travel at their own expense to France but the British health service would cover the cost of the surgery. The Centre Hospitalier de Calais has trained dozens of nurses and support staff in English, and an NHS sign now hangs at its entrance. “The Calais hospital is now affiliated to the NHS - it's as if a British patient was in England,” said Thaddée Segard, a businessman who acted as the go-between for the hospital and the NHS. “It allows British people to reduce their waiting times, it allows France to demonstrate the quality of its hospitals, it helps the town of Calais to improve its tarnished image in the
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INSIDE > > > NEWS - New region's money worries
As the dust settles on how the new regions will function, it has emerged that PoitouCharentes could be joining with as much as €132m in unpaid debt >> Page 3
NEWS - French chef wins pizza crown
A French chef has walked away with the top prize at the recent World Pizza Championships, days after Italy claimed it had the world's best wine >> Page 12
BILINGUAL - Cheese rolling - Only in the UK!
We take a bilingual look at what makes men and women risk serious injury and throw themselves down a steep hill after a cheese >> Page 15
The Bugle Business Directory
France has once again retained its title as the most visited country in the world >> Page 10
We all have bad habits. Develop a healthy one that actually saves you money!
8 pages of listings for local English-speaking businesses - your essential guide to finding just what you’re looking for >> Pages 19-26
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