Lacking notes here in France on hospital department (9)

I believe the answer is:

deficient

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'lacking' is the definition.
(I know that lacking can be written as deficient)

'notes here in france on hospital department' is the wordplay.
'notes' becomes 'def' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'here in france' becomes 'ici' ('here' in French).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'hospital department' becomes 'ENT' (Ear, Nose and Throat department).
'def'+'ici'+'ent'='DEFICIENT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deficient that I've seen before include "less than complete" , "Inadequate" , "Lacking" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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