Are things in the UK really that bad?

[namechange10022002]

I’ve been living overseas for about seven years and I am lucky to have a very safe, easy, comfortable life here but for various reasons I really want to move back home to England. However I keep hearing about how bad the situation is over there, with the cost of living crisis, housing, energy bills, health service, etc. For example I was watching Triggernometry and the hosts were saying the next few years are going to be extremely difficult for everyone there. I was just wondering, is it really as bad as they say? If you never watched or read the news or looked at social media, would you notice the difference in your quality of life? What is the general feeling on the ground, so to speak?

I guess I just want to know if it would be a mistake to move back there.

How on earth are you struggling to return parcels :/

It's not whataboutery at all. Comparing the UK to similar countries is a considerably more intelligent approach than comparing it to your own perdonal ideals then stamping your feet like a child because things are difficult.

You are right that France's health system is more successful than ours. Statistically the UK compares badly to similar countries in health... but all of those countries, including France, have a level of privatisation much higher than ours.

Yeah? Strange lack of red line for what's considered the Best Universal Healthcare system..
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.636750/full

Hmmm. Nice try! The detail below the graph explains that those without a red line are those that didn't provide information. You can't seriously believe that the French system is fully public funded?! 😂

Try this for an idiot's guide:

about-france.com/health-care.htm

There are some strange things on this thread, Amazon Prime taking a week, struggling to return parcels and taking an item back to a shop. All things to make you not want to live here, how is returning things to shops in other countries. Myself I have never had a problem, maybe the stuff was worn or used and the buyer was refused a refund

Oh that's interesting so you've now called me childish, an idiot while providing no direct comparison between France and UK's private healthcare system

Do feel free to give us the exact breakdown then of GDP spend in the UK versus France on healthcare and the level of private care that's significant in France V the UK to justify your premise that these are comparitively different enough. You'll notice from that blue line that it strangely covers the entire population.

Also do feel free to let us know the number of strikes going on around Europe compared to the UK.

We can then draw conclusion as to whether you're just whataboutting or actually have an idea of what you're talking about which isn't evident from an "About France" link.

Loving this, significant private funding. Despite the fact that it's such relatively trivial amount that they don't even submit it😂

Yes, it is that bad. It feels like all the public services have been slowly denuded since Thatcher and that's recently accelerated to crisis point. Brexit has been awful for us but in truth, the rot was already spreading. It's grim for many.

Covid + a tory government that can't even be bothered to pretend it cares anymore is a dangerous combination.

I'm in NI so obviously not England but still UK and in all honesty my quality of life hasn't changed. We are far from well off so definitely feeling the pinch more than usual but not enough to affect my quality of life. We can still be seen by a GP here, or where I am certainly. I had a baby last year and was worried about the state of maternity and the NHS but the care I received was fantastic. What I will say is I am worried about my loved ones getting ill, especially the state of the A&E departments and ambulance wait times. That is frightening. Though if I didn't watch the news etc then nothing much would have changed (for me).

'I'm fine so it must all be scaremongering' shocker! Some people struggle with funds, some with empathy.

Anytime someone uses 'scaremongering' in relation to the media you can be 99% sure what follows is an anecdotal waste of time.

I see. I would compare us to other European nations or USA, Australia as you suggest.
Things have deteriorated in all those countries, yes, but not as rapidly or as badly as in the UK. Europe, in particular seems to be in big trouble but some countries which were previously less prosperous eg Poland are now in better shape economically.
I noticed that you take about British entitlement and arrogance on a later post and I agree with that. I think there is still a significant hangover from the empire which leads to this kind of thinking. What I am talking about is slightly different though, the rate of deceleration and the fact that prosperity has fallen significantly for a large proportion of people. Successive governments have managed the UK economy particularly poorly and this is the result.

I don't have Russian friends so I'm not sure what a range of Russian people may or may not think but the quality of life in China has certainly risen over the last 10 years or so (although they look to be in trouble now).

The UK just suffered the lowest growth in the G7. Its real GDP contracted more than Japan, while the other 5 countires grew.

So no, it's not bad for everyone squally.

Some people sound a bit extreme I agree. Lacking energy for basic tasks maybe.

But you have already provided the comparison yourself! It's all in the article you quoted - France' healthcare is biased towards private and the UK is biased towards public.

We have Russian friends.
A year ago dh was having a conversation with one about the fact his mum had to go into hospital for an operation. ‘You must be worried.’
’Yes, but luckily she’s not in England, she’s in Moscow.’
Obviously that doesn’t tell you what rural areas are like, Russia won’t have got any better since and there are many other reasons why life in Russia is worse (said friend has since applied for British citizenship) but it was a bit thought-provoking nonetheless.

I have absolutely zero idea what you're on about and that's obviously complete nonsense when the French system is Universal with a slight privatisation for people who aren't particularly ill. Much like getting a private Dr's appointment here when you can't get a GP appointment now ironically only it would still be subsidised in France.

But you can make this clear by giving a direct GDP percentage contribution from both publically and privately funded if you want, you'll find that France makes a higher public contribution towards it's health services and has done for years which has led to better investment of resources hence it's not falling apart.

Basically France's health service has not been mismanaged ours has, and even though there have been strikes in France there have been frequent ones which have led to better investment. Not so here, junior dr strikes were nigh on ignored.

I would urge you to stay in Canada. The England you left is no more.
Would it be possible to visit for 2-3 weeks to see what you think before planning a move back? Visit some GP surgeries, A&Es, supermarkets, get on the tube, busses. Not sure where you’d be moving back to but London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester, Bradford, etc. are shitholes.

40/50 minute queues in local post offices, no empty slots in local InPost lockers.

Not to do with sellers refusing returns…as a PP implied.

I think I must be living in a different country to many posters. I live in a slightly crappy inner suburb of a big city (not naice). Things are fine. I can go to the local discounter supermarket and buy plentiful cheap good quality food. I have an NHS appointment tomorrow for a minor injury. I had to go to A and E a few months ago and there was a longish wait but it was fine and staff were extremely kind. My child is on track to get good GCSEs in a distinctly average comprehensive. I saw lots of friends over Christmas and everybody was cheerful and talking about their plans for the NY, not bemoaning the state of the world. We are all moderately-paid public sector workers.

I am aware of how lucky I am, and am not in any way trying to deny the problems in the NHS - it's clear there are some real problems there and change is needed. But for me and for most people I know things are fine, quality of life is still pretty good, and it is nothing like the hellhole that I am seeing described by PPs.

I completely agree, @Rotherweird

It's the same where we are. No major issues with anything that I've seen being posted about on this thread.

Same. I am a single parent with a part time job and a child with additional needs who has an EHCP and gets a lot of assistance in school. It wasn’t always like that for her I will admit but once in secondary where they had processes in place it all got easier - she is sitting GCSEs, which I never thought possible. I took her to the doctors yesterday - I called at 8.15 and was in at 9. I’m at my NHS dentist right now about to have treatment, I had to wait two weeks - Christmas though. I’m in social housing and when something goes wrong, I log into my housing account and request repairs, they’re usually completed within a week. Maybe I am just really lucky but most of my friends and family seem to be going along ok as well. The only thing I have noticed is an increase in my food shop, that is admittedly fairly significant, costs about 15/20% more than it used to.

A lot of Russian citizens seem to think their Country is great and everything is good and that the UK is a joke. Which goes to show you how useful comparisons are.
What are their gas prices like?

I am aware of how lucky I am, and am not in any way trying to deny the problems in the NHS - it's clear there are some real problems there and change is needed. But for me and for most people I know things are fine, quality of life is still pretty good, and it is nothing like the hellhole that I am seeing described by PPs.

Anecdotes are nice. Hard data is better. And it shows that NHS waiting lists are appalling.