The Carnet de Santé: Our Guide for Expat Families in France
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If you’re an expat family moving to France with young children or planning to have kids there later, you may want to learn about the “carnet de santé”, a unique French health record booklet. This document plays a significant role in managing children’s health from birth to adulthood. Understanding what it is and its use can make a big difference in navigating the French medical system and ensuring your child’s health information is well-documented and accessible.
What is the Carnet de Santé?
The “carnet de santé”, or “health booklet,” is a personal health record provided to every child born in France. It’s issued by the French government at birth, usually at the hospital, and serves as a comprehensive health history for a child. This booklet is designed to accompany the child through their entire life, from infancy into their teenage years, recording everything from vaccinations and growth milestones to allergies, illnesses and treatments.
The “carnet de santé” is a comprehensive tool for tracking a child’s health history and development. It is commonly used throughout France, and healthcare providers anticipate it at every check-up or medical appointment, especially during infancy and early childhood. This standardisation of medical records helps ensure that every healthcare professional has a clear and complete understanding of the child’s health, even if the family relocates elsewhere or changes doctors.
Key Sections of the Carnet de Santé
The “carnet de santé” includes sections for various types of information, making it an invaluable tool for parents and healthcare providers. Some of the main sections include:
Vaccination Records
This section keeps track of all the required and recommended vaccinations necessary for attending school and daycare in France. Schools frequently review this section to confirm that a child’s vaccinations are current. It is especially helpful for tracking booster shots, such as those for tetanus, which have long renewal periods and can be difficult to remember.
Growth and Development Milestones
Paediatricians record the child’s growth data, such as height and weight, along with key developmental milestones. These records can help track the child’s overall health and development.
Illnesses and Treatments
Each illness or treatment, whether a minor childhood illness or a more serious condition, is documented in the “carnet de santé” This allows any healthcare provider to see past treatments and adjust care accordingly.
Dental and Vision Check-ups
There are also designated sections for tracking dental and vision health, as regular check-ups are recommended for children.
General Health Information
Important details like allergies, ongoing medical conditions, and special needs are noted to ensure every doctor, school, or caregiver has this information available.
Why is the Carnet de Santé Useful for Expats?
For expat families, the “carnet de santé” can be especially valuable, even if it initially feels unusual, just like any new administrative task or document when you move to a new country. Here’s how it can help:
Simplifies Healthcare Navigation
As newcomers to the French system, expat families may find it challenging to keep track of vaccinations, treatments, and doctor visits. The “carnet de santé” simplifies this process, as it’s recognised and used by all French healthcare providers.
Eases Transitions
Whether moving to a new city in France or changing doctors, the “carnet de santé” provides a complete medical history, making it easier for new healthcare providers to understand your child’s health needs without starting from scratch.
Facilitates School and Daycare Enrolment
In France, children need proof of up-to-date vaccinations to enrol in schools and childcare facilities. The “carnet de santé” offers a quick and practical way to verify this information, saving expat parents time and hassle gathering various documents.
Supports a Continuity of Care
For expat children, especially those with existing medical conditions, the “carnet de santé” can ensure that healthcare professionals in France have accurate, comprehensive information about the child’s health history, making it easier to provide consistent and personalised care.
Emergency Situations
Finally, your “carnet de santé” can also provide vital information to medical professionals, such as allergies, blood type, or ongoing treatments, in case of an emergency.
How Do You Get a Carnet de Santé?
For children born in France, the “ccarnet de santé” is automatically issued at birth. However, you may not have this booklet if you move to France with young children. In this case, you can request a similar document from your local health authority (such as the Agence Régionale de Santé), the Améli online service, or consult with your child’s doctor, who can help create a medical record.
While the “carnet de santé” is usually only issued to children born in France, having an equivalent record, even in another format, will be helpful to the child and the parents. You can work with French doctors to gradually build a health record that meets the same needs.
Using the Carnet de Santé for Ongoing Care
The “carnet de santé” is intended to be used at every medical appointment up to adulthood or 18 years of age. You should bring it along to doctor visits, including routine check-ups, vaccinations, and emergency visits. Paediatricians and other healthcare providers will make notes in the booklet, ensuring the information is always up to date.
Naturally, the information compiled in the “carnet de santé” is confidential and only accessible to healthcare professionals, schools, or daycare providers as authorised by the parents. This helps protect your child’s privacy while ensuring that critical health information is accessible when needed. If you entrust this booklet to your child or a third party, do so in a sealed envelope marked with the words “medical confidentiality.”
Go Digital with “Mon Espace Santé”
In addition to the “carnet de santé”, a “Mon Espace Santé” profile is automatically created for each child at birth, unless the parents object. After the birth, the parent who registers the child with the Assurance Maladie via Ameli will receive an invitation via email or mail to activate or decline the creation of an account for their child. To activate “Mon Espace Santé”, the parent must log into their personal Ameli account, where they will find profiles for them and their child.
Healthcare During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, medical appointments are frequent, leading to the generation of numerous health documents. With “Mon Espace Santé”, you can store all of these documents in one convenient location and share them with your chosen healthcare professionals when needed. Additionally, this system provides a secure messaging system that enables you to communicate with your healthcare providers in complete confidentiality.
Tips for Expats with Kids in France
Keep It Accessible
Store your child’s “carnet de santé” in an easy-to-reach place where you can easily find it for medical appointments, school registration, and other needs.
Translate Key Information
If your child has pre-existing medical conditions, consider adding translated notes or asking your healthcare provider to include details in French. This ensures clarity in case of potential future emergencies.
Make Use of Preventive Care
The French healthcare system emphasises preventive care; many check-ups and vaccinations are free or reimbursed. Use the “carnet de santé” to stay on top of these appointments.
Top Travel Tip
It can be useful to bring your child’s “carnet de santé” when travelling as it may be requested by healthcare professionals or at customs in case of a check for required vaccinations for entry into the country. We can assist with travel insurance if required.
It’s Not Compulsory for Expats
So, the “carnet de santé” may seem like just another booklet, but if you are living in France, it’s a vital document for ensuring that children receive consistent and comprehensive healthcare. For expat families, it offers an efficient way to manage health records in a new country and helps ease the transition to a new healthcare system.
For more information about the “carnet de santé”, ask your French GP or local surgery. To learn more about the healthcare system in France, please visit our popular blog. In a medical emergency, here’s an article with a list of helpful numbers; note that we can also assist expats with healthcare insurance and top-up medical plans in France.
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