Are things in the UK really that bad?

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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.

Unless you're wealthy, yes it's really bad. Twelve years of Tory governance which has stripped out the public services - health, social care and education all failing due to chronic under-investment and no strategic thinking. Also no workforce investment or planning. Ditto re energy - no plans made for energy security or self sufficiency - hence the present fiasco of sky high fuel bills.

Even health wise, my husband saw a consultant in November and has surgery scheduled for next week.

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?

People seem happier, mostly due to increased flexibility with work

I was listening to a discussion on the radio about this this morning. The experts conclusion was that the problem is the UK has no money to fix their problems. Where I live for instance we have problems too but we also have quite a large budget surplus which means the government can implement various strategies to try and help. The UK doesn't have that so although they can say this, that and the other is the problem they don't actually have the money to fix it.

We are retired with an income pre tax of £49,000 and in excess of £150k invested and the same again due in probate this year we also have a decent slush fund in premium bonds and mortgage paid off with a huge chunk of equity. More than £600 less than £800k

Even when we were newly married and really really broke, I never felt this anxious about money and I really did worry then.

Stay where you are.

Where do you live? Seriously... in London it is literally impossible to get seen by a GP. You queue up at 7.30am and by the time the doors open at 8 the receptionists have a sign up saying "no appointments". This has happened to me four days in a row. This is absolutely real.

Obviously not all parts of the UK are identical and services are under less pressure than others in some regions but putting it down to "media scaremongering" is just irresponsible and dismissive. The media don't invent pictures of ambulances 14 deep outside A&E departments.

Some people are having a miserable time, that's for sure. But, in my area, I have no difficulty getting a GP appointment, my DC are getting a good education and I don't know anyone who plans to leave the UK permanently because they think it'll be better elsewhere

I think media / MN paint a different picture from what I see around me on a day to day basis

The benefits bill is a ticking time bomb ! Totally unsustianable.

I definitely wouldn't move back to the UK at present if you have a comfortable life overseas and I speak as one of a retired couple with good pensions, mortgage free, a disabled adult daughter who is very well housed locally. None of us have any financial concerns and can afford private medical treatment if needed.

The NHS is in such a state at the moment there is no guarantee private treatment would be available immediately plus the ever increasing costs of food and utility bills are ludicrous.

As a pp stated earlier, even middle to high earners are finding things tough. Can't believe how much easier life was 5 years ago! ☹️

What are the things which lead you to have a “safe, easy, comfortable life” where you currently are? Most people who can describe their life that way would probably experience it the same way in just about any developed country, including the UK.

I think the UK is great. I’m very happy, life is good, and I’d rather be here than anywhere else. Would I feel differently if I were a benefit-reliant single mum in a social housing flat? Probably. But I can’t think of many countries where being in that situation would be a particularly happy or comfortable experience.

Just outside Sheffield. Phoned GP at 8.31am this morning, took 27 mins to get through but DS2 was seen this afternoon. I never go in person to book appointments so can’t comment on what that is like.
Also had to have DD to A&E over the Christmas break and was in and out in 5 hours.
We do have a childrens hospiral though, so obviously not as long a wait as a general hospital for both adults & children.

Im fully aware of the ambulance situation. It’s been that way for years.

If you're rich and healthy you'll be fine.

Yes. I don’t know how it compares to other places, or how long the problems will last, but the basic services - healthcare, transport - just aren’t working at the moment.

Obviously nobody expected the war in Ukraine or Covid, but it feels as though the government have been looking the other way for years, and that means we are in a much worse position than we should have been.

I completely agree. There's an awful lot of media hysteria about The Cost Of Living Crisis (not that I doubt some people are having a tough time of it); it's the new Covid.

"The UK is not a wealthy country"

That's not true. The UK is from a global perspective a weathly country. But the wealth is not well distributed.

To the OP, it's not great. If you have money you will be ok though. And in comparison to many other places I would say it's really not that bad. But the UK's heyday does seem to be on a bit of a downturn. I suppose that's what telling all your neighbours that you are loads better than them and don't want to be friends anymore because you don't need them does to countries 🤔

Depends how much you earn and where you’d live. We can afford energy and food prices, as we are lucky with salaries. NHS wise - for us personally, I was able to get an on the day appt for child / teen with nasty cough before Xmas - left message on gp site, call back later in day, appt at end of day and needed antibiotics which I collected from pharmacy before teatime. My MIL found a lump and was seen for a thorough check a week or two later, just after Xmas. Awaiting results. Kids school seems fine.

Im not saying it isn’t bad for lots of people but just wanted to give my experience for me.

I honestly don't think mumsnet is the right place to this question. It's not as bad as a lot of PP's are making out - most of my friends/family/colleagues - while feeling the impact of higher prices - are ok. Our lives haven't really changed, except for maybe fewer holidays, eating out less etc.

NHS is still going, I need to see my gp, I put an E-consult in yesterday morning, and by the evening, I had an appointment booked for early next week. We called 111 before Christmas as my daughter had a high temperature and was really not herself - and within 5 hours of us picking up the phone, we'd been seen by a ooh gp and given antibiotics.

We are among the lucky, but I am also considering leaving. Even with BUPA, any of us is now only one health emergency away from potential disaster. The stories on thread after thread here, to say nothing of the national news, have destroyed my confidence that I will be able to summon an ambulance in a real emergency. Surely that is a basic aspect of a civilised society.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg

I’m in London and had same day too. Faster than private GP.

The welfare bill mentioned by pp does feel at tipping point and I hope it doesn’t rise. But overall things are feeling positive in new year.

Yes it’s bad. Lots of people can’t afford to heat their houses and if you need emergency medical treatment you are in trouble in many areas. Public transport where I am has suddenly got much worse with important bus routes axed and the train strikes. Lots of businesses shutting down or mothballed as they can’t afford heating. I am not somewhere particularly deprived but a nice Yorkshire market town with buoyant house prices. I wouldn’t move back until emergency healthcare gets back on its feet. Somehow.

And this isn’t based on what I am reading on Mumsnet, it’s my real life local friends. Mumsnetters are on average better off so not surprisingly there are people here untouched by it, doesn’t mean it’s not real.

I'm in London and had no problem getting a GP appointment for DS yesterday. It wasn't particularly urgent either, he's just bothered about his teenage acne. I'm not sure I'd want to rely on an ambulance for anything at the moment, but DS broke a finger playing rugby a couple of months ago which I took him to A&E for and he was seen within a couple of hours. Also no problems getting an NHS dentist appointment for me or the DC. The energy bills are a problem, but the weather will hopefully warm up a bit in a couple of months.

If you arent going to need any healthcare including unforeseen emergencies, if you can afford a private school, if you won't need to access SEN provision, if you don't need to get a train, if you aren't going to worry about the cost of living, if your kids won't need driving lessons, if you don't mind not being able to buy and sell from the EU, then yes, its all fine and dandy.

My life is affected substantially by the crash in various areas of life in the UK.

Yes it is that bad. I was offered a GP appointment today for 21st January despite needing one urgently. FIL was left lying in the street on the ice that he slipped on and broke his hip for 2 hours and then a further 2 in the back of the ambulance waiting to go into the hospital. Prices are still rising rapidly and the government’s only answer seems to be to raise interest rates putting people into even more debt. We had to have a charity band aid single for food banks ffs!

@MarshaBradyo

Where are you in London where you are getting to see a GP?

I'm honestly pretty angry about it and while I understand that the experience isn't universal, I find it hard to listen to people minimising this. I have been really really sick over Christmas and been unable to access any healthcare and I am genuinely frightened. While I don't mind people pointing out that they are not having the same difficulties, I object to being told that I'm imagining this or I'm being whipped up into a frenzy by "the media". Where I live the infrastructure of healthcare has totally broken down.

I‘m in SE London, how about you?