Mind you, Peter, an immigrant patient in an NHS hospital is likely to find that a doctor and nurse have the same native language as he has! And French doctors, particularly specialists, tend to have good English. However, the bureaucrats must be under orders not to reveal that they have ever learned a word of English; this shouldn't worry the British, who ought to learn the right phrases in advance,and because French bureaucrats set out,as a life ambition, to be as awkward and unhelpful as possible to French citizens, and thus it is a valuable introduction to French culture.