The house call from SOS Médecins

Why it is on the list

The doctor's house call in Paris started here: Marcel Lascar, a Paris general practitioner, founded the first SOS Médecins association on 20 June 1966 so that a doctor would come to the bedside at night, and other countries have since taken up the model.¹ SOS Médecins Grand Paris sends general practitioners and emergency doctors anywhere in Paris, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.²³⁴ Its charter asks for doctors experienced in emergency work, diagnostic and treatment equipment carried on the visit, and a written report of the visit for your own doctor.³ It works alongside the SAMU, the Paris fire brigade and the regional health agency.³

It is the wrong call for a life-threatening emergency: it handles general medical emergencies, not life-threatening ones, and for anything grave the regulating doctor sends the SAMU; the online request page itself says to call or dial 15 in an emergency.³⁵

How to get it

Call +33 1 47 07 77 77 (printed 01 47 07 77 77), or 3624 from a French line at EUR 0.12 a minute.⁴⁶ A medical regulation assistant takes the call and, when needed, passes you to a regulating doctor, who decides on a visit, a consultation at one of the medical centres or advice by telephone.²³ Have ready a number to call you back on (they may ask for a landline even if you call from a mobile), the patient's name and the exact address with building, floor, door number, intercom and access code, and keep the patient's prescriptions and usual treatment to hand.²

A visit can also be requested online at any hour, after creating an account; the call centre checks each request, may ring to ask questions, and confirms by email twice, once when it takes the request and once when it passes the visit to a doctor.⁵ Stay where you are until the doctor arrives, and tell the call centre if you have to leave.²⁶ The waiting time you are given is an estimated maximum and moves with demand and traffic; during a seasonal epidemic the line can be saturated and a quick visit may not be offered.²⁶

Visits are charged at the regulated Sector 1 rates, and the fee itself is not printed: ask the call centre what the visit will cost at that hour.² For a certificate, a duplicate prescription or a reimbursement afterwards, the administrative office at 87 boulevard de Port Royal answers from 10 am to noon and 2 pm to 4 pm.²⁶

Discretion

The doctor sees the patient where they are staying, so there is no waiting room to sit in.² Doctors arrive in white, radio-dispatched cars marked SOS Médecins.³ A written report of the visit goes to your own doctor.³