To think life in England must be much easier

[Heatethelastwaffle]

I’m British but live abroad.
We are struggling a lot financially at the moment, life is hard, although the sun shines.
Where we are, if you fall into a hole, you’re pretty much screwed. Benefits exist, but you have to be very much on the breadline and even then it’s not enough to survive. There is a national health service, but it’s not great, so I’m having to pay out of my own money for private consultations. I have a chronic illness but no benefits whatsoever exist, my Dd is potentially suffering from Pans/pandas, they haven’t heard of it where we are, I’ve been to three separate Drs who had no idea what I’m talking about, There’s no help with rent, with housing, with bills and so on if you fall on hard times.

I want to go home, it may be depressing in some ways in England but you’re secure.

The thread seems to have moved away from your question OP, and I appreciate this is not what you were getting at, but I am posting the following as there seem to be misunderstandings about 'entitlements' to public services (e.g. free treatment from the NHS, housing, access to benefits) on returning to the UK after living abroad. Having dealt with people experiencing difficulties on returning to the UK and being unable to access what they anticipated, it would be good (and would help with some of the misinformation on both sides in this thread), if people were more aware of the concepts of habitual residence and no recourse to public funds. Helpful info on this page and re accessing the NHS on this page. The poster that commented upthread about moving to the UK from Ireland - Irish citizens are entitled to access free healthcare from the NHS as part of reciprocal agreement; this isn't a universal entitlement.

Some of these comments are something else, I think people love to act morally superior and it's usually people in a good position in life!
I've lived in a few different European countries and despite the sunshine life can be hard living there.
Ultimately right now most of Europe is in a cost of living crisis of some sort and all countries are having big issues.
However rentals in the UK really have become crazy for what's on offer and what you are expected to pay. Social housing is like gold dust, many people living in hotels which are meant to be temporary but turn into months on end.
But despite the negativity of this thread - if you are really unhappy where you are, come back. But weigh up options for living expenses, and what your children will need.
Plenty of people move abroad, realise it's not for them and come back - if no one took any risks in life, you'd never leave the village / town you were born in!

Ffs OP is a BRITISH CITIZEN, she will pay into the system if she comes back. Noone mentioned benefits.
And FYI, only higher level tax payers are likely to ever 'pay more into the system' than you take out.
The typical person costs the state more than they contribute if you consider use of NHS for giving birth, schooling for children and state pension.
So I very much doubt that Gillypie has paid in more than you have used.
Please get better informed.

I live in Buckinghamshire and it's not a 7 week wait it is impossible to see a GP in my town at all.

Every surgery has a 'phone at 8am for urgent appointments only'. You are then in a queue and often number 38 or something.

The appointments fill up extremely fast, so by 9am the surgeries are at safe working capacity and the phone lines are disconnected.

If you are lucky to get a call back (because you have a serious infection or something), then you still do not get to see a GP, you send in photos and have a phone consultation.

Long-term conditions (i have bipolar for example), which meant regular reviews, now have no reviews....ever! No reviews for MH conditions, high blood pressure, asthma, etc, etc.

I ended up hospitalised last year after my asthma got worse and worse and I couldn't get an appointment. After trying for a couple of days 111 sent an ambulance when it worsened. I would not have needed to be in hospital if I could have talked to a GP, I just needed steroids.

My Dsis lives about four miles away in a village. She can get appointments immediately. Same with friends who live in villages. It seems anyone who lives in a village is afforded decent GP care, anyone who lives in a town is left with next to none.

In our town it is 100% caused by the building of huge new estates on all sides of my town. Each estate is like a town in itself. The surgeries have been forced to absorb all these new residents without any new surgeries, meaning the surgeries just can't cope with demand (although it seems to have worsened since covid when they closed their doors and haven't re-opened).

I'm sure this is replicated throughout England (you said UK so imagine your relatives are lucky not to live in an English town with a medium population.

It’s interesting that Sweden is seen as the land of plenty 😅.

I’m Swedish and I recognise the majority of the problems described here. Completely dysfunctional housing market due to years of rent controls, huge rents, social housing provision does exist but it’s a choice between living in places where few people want to live or waiting for 10+ years in line for a decent option. Healthcare is highly regionalised so it’s basically a postcode lottery - I’ve heard the good ones exist but in my region the standard waiting times are 3+ weeks for the first GP appointment at which, I guarantee you, you are going to be encouraged to drink more milk and take paracetamol. There are guaranteed times for seeing a consultant or having a surgery (3 months) that basically only exist on paper, my DH waited 1.5 years for an urgent operation and ended up with a minor disability as a result (no benefits for that). The private options do not exist outside large cities so you are basically stuck with the available healthcare or go abroad for any serious treatment (very common). Dental healthcare is even worse, I never managed to get a place in any of the local clinics because there are waiting lists to get on the waiting list, so the only option is a private practice.

I’ve yet to see a person who can afford paying their electricity bill and food at the same time while on benefits. If you earn a decent wage, life is ok but you pay 52% income tax and then watch it wasted on some grandiose project by the local government.

What is true is that childcare is not expensive. Private schools are also free - but there are very long lines to get to good ones, you have to put your children in the queue once when they are born to secure a place.

Many older Swedes who can afford it move to Southern Europe when reaching the retirement age chasing the sun and lower costs of living.

I love the country. But if someone is seeking to move here for the splendid benefits, fantastic healthcare and the safety net then I say you might be in for a bit of disappointment.

You really have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! I'm going to show your ridiculous diatribes to my lovely friends later at our Ladies night I'm sure they'll be most entertained. Also,just out of interest,why do you find it offensive that my Muslim friends wear bikinis on the beach and enjoy a drink or two? Do you think they should be covered from head to toe and walk two steps behind their husbands? Quite frankly I find your assumptions to be extremely offensive. I'll tell you something else as well that will probably blow your mind,I know not one Muslim person here,man or woman that goes to the Mosque because not all Muslims are religious. Just in case you blow a gasket can I make it clear that I'm referencing people I know only,not the general population.

Okkkaaay. You do you. Enjoy your 'ladies night'!!! 😂💅

Good grief OP please don't take much of this thread to heart - people on here talk as though the UK is some kind of Armaggedon!!

For what it's worth we live in Cornwall and my healthcare - long term health condition and disability- is pretty good. Regular reviews with consultant and GP when needed.

Housing is a big issue here but much of that is down to second homes and Air Bnbs (and our new MP has said this a top priority which I take with a large pinch of salt but one can only hope).

I'm not disputing that there are challenges here but I don't recognise the typical MN rhetoric that the UK is becoming a "cesspit" (from a pp) and everywhere else is a utopia.

My BIL recently returned to the UK from a country in Europe that many on here cite as somewhere wonderful to live - he was there for 30 years and still chose to come home. He has no regrets. He is able to use the NHS.

I will thank you! We'll all raise a glass to your in depth experience of the ME having lived in Dubai for a whole two years.

You do that, you are a wonderful example of why I did not like living there!

It is a vulgar, alcohol fuelled, superficial experience that offers a shallow and hollow existence, I am only survived the endurance by flying elsewhere as often as possible.

See,I'm confused now. If you hate the place so much why have you been travelling back there for the past 23yrs? If I hated a country as much as you seem to I wouldn't set foot in the place ever again,yet you've been travelling back there for the past 23yrs? Why? I think you're a raging Hypocrite.

NHS has saved my life as well. I've got hypercholesterolaemia and if the lovely nurse hadn't phoned me about it, I'll be dead like my sister from fatty liver cancer. I'm so thankful for the health service in this country.

It's $50 just to see the doctor in Malaysia and you have to pay for medication as well.

@gizatwirl ignoring the spat with another poster, I’m really interested in what you said about your Muslim friends. I genuinely thought that all the gulf countries were really strict about observance re alcohol etc. Which country are you based in, and do you think your experiences are specific to that country? Or are there others that are also more relaxed? Wondering if we only hear about the extreme end. Thanks.

I lived in Sweden for a while and I second what you’re saying about the housing situation.
In our experience it was next to impossible to find a long term rental (meaning for more than a year) if you hadn’t been on a waiting list for council flat for years and years, often 10+.
The only other option were sublets you could rent for six to twelve months.

I'm sorry to hear that you and your family are struggling OP. Start making plans to come home. When are you planning on returning. If you need any support with moving back the wonderful British Expats forum has a really good supportive section for British expats coming back to the UK.

Hi brogueish,this isn't a strict country,in fact it's known as a laid back,tolerant place with a great lifestyle. Many of the locals have been educated in the UK or Europe and so have a very Western outlook on life. I'm sure there are huge numbers who do strictly follow their religion and all that entails but also there are many that don't. If a local wants to party they are free to do so,it's entirely up to them. It's all about personal choice here so in that respect it makes it quite a unique place in the region. I've been here ten years now and I know many British expats who came here decades ago 'just for a couple of years' and have never left.

I agree with you that its better in many ways - we don't have orphaned kids eating rats and living in the sewers, for example, but better does not mean good. There are increasing numbers of children living in mouldy/unsafe conditions, with limited access to nutritious food and healthcare services. This is not an acceptable standard for the 21st century.

Bahrain?

Life is the same absolutely everywhere. Benefits or not. Even English people suffer from lack and all sorts of issues

An online contact in the USA, a veteran eats a cup of porridge every second day and in between is just water. His divorce and three car crashes wiped his savings. They don't give him nothing

Many many British males live in hostels or bedsits, they are given £71.70 per week but they have to pay for their gas and electricity along with their food, hygiene products, clothing....... Don't hear anyone giving a shit about them but they don't matter do they.

While it’s awful what that veteran is having to put up with, how can you say life’s the same absolutely everywhere?
Do you really think there are no differences in state support between different countries?

But those males can find work to better their situation or, if eligible, claim disability benefits. Immigrants are unable to work legally and have no recourse to public funds.

They were both (mum and daughter) born here and lived for 40 odd years in the mums case

British citizens who are permanently resident in the UK are entitled to free NHS care. DD and I have returned in the past 5 years, and were immediately able to register with a GP