Ancillary services: finding a doctor out of hours

During regular working hours, your own doctor should either be accessible or indicate, for example on their practice’s voicemail, how you can contact a colleague if they are away. Regular hours are usually 8:00 to 20:00, and sometimes Saturday morning.

At night and at the weekend, one solution is to call 116 117. This helpline is intended to be available nationally in due course, though as of early 2025 it was not operational in all regions. Its volunteer GPs can help you find a doctor available in your area, whether for a home visit or at a maison médicale de garde. Other solutions include the well-known SOS Médecins service or Qare, which offers online consultations.

Maisons médicales de garde

Maisons médicales de garde are designated on-call medical centres. They are only intended for people with urgent medical requirements that cannot wait until usual surgery hours. They are often attached to a local hospital, retirement home, or multidisciplinary clinic.

To use these and be well reimbursed, do not just drop in; call 116 117 or the healthcare access number 15.

The cost of a consultation with a médecin de garde is higher than a normal-hour appointment but is still state-reimbursed at the usual 70% (additional dépassements d’honoraires are not usual). Allowed extra amounts (majorations) on top of the standard fee are:

• Between 20:00 and 00:00 or 6:00 to 8:00: €42.50, or €46 for a home visit

• Between 00:00 and 06:00: €51.50, or €59.50 for a home visit

• Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and bank holidays: €26.50, or €30 for a home visit

Médecins de garde practise le tiers payant, so, for example, to see one at 22:00 at their premises costs €30 + €42.50 (€72.50), of which €21.75 has to be paid upfront. You can find telephone numbers by visiting sante.fr and entering your town/village name and maison médicale de garde in the search field at the top.

As mentioned, the 116 117 helpline may also be able to assist. If you visit a maison médicale de garde without calling before it is possible for the doctor to charge extra amounts, at their discretion, that are not state-reimbursed.

Other than médicins de garde, if a doctor agrees to see a patient late at night or at the weekend due to an emergency, different majorations apply: €35 from 20:00 to 00:00 or 6:00 to 8:00, €40 from 00:00 to 6:00, or €19.06 on Saturday afternoons, Sundays and bank holidays. Rates differ again in cases where a home visit is required.

Finally, if a doctor decides, as part of their practice, to offer routine night or weekend appointments, they should charge no more than €5 in additional fees, according to the latest Assurance Maladie rules. Note that in cities you will increasingly find drop-in medical clinics where it is possible to see a GP or nurse in the evening or at weekends, without them being official maisons médicales de garde. 

They often record all out-of-hours patients as having been seen due to an emergency, but Assurance Maladie is seeking to reduce this practice. You can often find such doctors with a search on doctolib.fr by specifying that you are looking for a doctor immediately/ shortly in your local area. You can write autour de moi (near me) in the field for the area, then when results come up click to narrow the search by disponibilités (availability) and click aujourd’hui.

SOS Médecins

This well-established service is another alternative. You can book an appointment online but need to create an account first (there is also an SOS Médecins app). Alternatively call on 3624. This costs €0.15 per minute plus the price of the call, and is available at all times. 

It can organise in-person appointments at a centre, or a home visit, or set up an online or phone consultation. You can find a branch at sosmedecins-france.fr by clicking on Nous contacter. All SOS Médecins doctors are sector 1 (so any extra fees relate to the fact of making at-home and/or out-of-hours visits). 

Its website indicates that out-of-hours it charges the same rate as médecins de garde. Its doctors take cartes Vitale, so patients can obtain the usual 70% reimbursement plus more if they have a mutuelle.

Qare

Qare is a private company that offers online video consultations to patients from 6:00 to midnight. It is possible to obtain a medical prescription, if necessary. Fees vary (from around €25 to €100) as some of its doctors charge dépassements. It is possible to use your carte Vitale.

Phone 15 if urgent

Phone 15 for free in the event of a real medical emergency and where you cannot quickly see a doctor. It will help you find the best solution, whether an out-of-hours doctor, visiting A&E etc.

Using a réseaux de soins can help reduce costs 

One way to reduce the cost of healthcare is to use a réseau de soins (care network). These often specialise in certain areas of care, such as cardiology or dermatology, including some areas that were previously poorly reimbursed, like dentistry or hearing aids (though these are now better reimbursed under the 100% Santé scheme).

Réseaux de soins are established by top-up insurance providers and professionals who agree to offer competitive rates in return for the work directed their way. Users also benefit from the tiers payant, so there is no upfront payment of the state-reimbursed portion.

Several top-up providers may belong to a given network, and websites exist for users to find professionals, such as carteblanchepartenaires.fr or santeclair.fr. Check with your top-up provider to see if you have access to one of these networks.