To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

[OptimismvsRealism]

God it's expensive God it's shit

Please regale me with examples of how other places are also shit and it's not just here

And I wouldn't be able to sort visas because I don't have a skillset they need.

If I worked in eg healthcare or IT, I might. But unlikely I would have anything that they can't get from the rest of the EU/EEA and its 300 odd million people.

I can tell you that we cannot access care. My child is suicidal and not coping anymore. The solution by social services and camhs is to impose a 24/7 suicide watch on the family. camhs struggle to help DC and everyone agrees they need a bed but there aren't. Whilst under my watch, I blinked for one moment which resulted in an attempt to commit suicide. There is still no bed and no help. Please do not give me this patronising crap that the NHS is working. It may work for some but too many are let down and a health care system that can only cater for some is not a functioning system.

The people who are complaining on here will no doubt complain even more when tax rises are announced next week. How do you actually expect public services to be paid for?

People in the UK want Nordic services with US taxes.

Doesn't work. Sorry. You need to decide what you want.

I've no idea what the answer is re the NHS. Everyone wants equally working fully funded services without it costing them a penny

It doesn't work. They waste too much money, we all know this.

Maybe some paid services need to be introduced and be part funded/part paid

i never said I don't want to pay more. I am happy to pay more but I do not think I expected to much if I want help for a suicidal teen who cannot be kept save at home esp in the absence of help from camhs and SS.

If you had a relative who was dying from cancer because they cannot access care, you probably would note quote that bollocks about funding and accept you do not get healthcare. Why is it different for MH?

If you think the UK is expensive, you should see NZ!

Yes and I think people would get a shock even in the USA when they realise how much property tax they pay and how much US citizens pay on their global income wherever they live.

Neither DW nor I have had any trouble either.
I think that is the NHS's real problem, the cover and the service provided is patchy.
What second-rate newspapers like to call "a post-code lottery".

You need to get "over the channel" more often. I wouldn't say UK prices are "extortionate" by comparison and we are way cheaper than the Scandinavian countries.

I'm not doubting you. But you said "There is no healthcare. Have you recently needed the NHS for something serious?" And as a family we have needed the NHS for something serious, on numerous occasions, and have repeatedly had the opposite experience to you. So my point was, it's wrong to say there is "no healthcare," it's working for many of us.

Admire your eloquence OP, most impressive. Perhaps you should take yourself to somewhere else? 👋

We don't appreciate living in the UK, the freedoms and opportunities we have, because most of us haven't lived in the alternatives. People on here have detailed the problems found in other countries, including European ones, not just the third world.

We seem to have a national desire to always look on the bleak side and to moan. When one poster said they'd had good nhs service, people weren't pleased for them but accused them of being 'tone deaf'.

the UK is no Utopia but we do ourselves no favours trying to think of it as badly as possible.

we cannot access it. I need a GP appointment to get signed off with stress as the suicide watch is killing me. Nothing before 27 Nov. My child needs urgent bloods as requested by consultant. nothing before Dec. Great that it works for you. It doesn't for us!

Your child might be suicidal but are they attempting suicide? If they are then you have an A&E that will care for your child free of charge, no insurance required. Of course you must take responsibility for keeping them safe in the meantime - who else will?

We don’t have a 24 hour system to care for children in this way. How would it even work?

December is just a few weeks away and not so far. If it was urgent you would be sent to hospital.

Why isn’t the hospital doing the bloods if it’s requested by a consultant?

Camhs have requested. they do not do bloods.

When we lived in Copenhagen the things that were shit were access to off the shelf medication ( really restricted- I used to stock up on uk trips) and ready meals. ( they don't really do them and what they did do were awful) I actually cook a lot but occasionally the odd quality ready meal is handy. Also any utility you needed to call only seemed to be available 9 to 2 - customer service was not great in any of them

It isn't harder than 20 years ago it's just there are more opportunities to spend money. 20 years ago families very rarely ate out. They didn't spend £50 to walk around a light display or get takeaways. They didn't say "I love him to the moon and back so spend £500 I can't afford on plastic tat gifts every birthday or I get mother's guilt".
We've become very soft as a nation but also very materialistic. Days out used to be a trip to the park in the rain with some sandwiches and a bag of crisps, this was what we did as a middle class family. Drove to France for our summer holiday, that was it.
Yes, life is crap for the poorest in society but it always has been which is why state education and healthcare were introduced, as well as other benefits. (We are now in a bizarre situation where wealthy people wear their abuse of state-funded education as a badge of pride.)
People on MN always say they'd be happy to pay more tax but that's because they think it will prove their lives immediately. It won't, and then they will be left with even less disposable income and an equally shitty existence.

@Thebellofstclements I do partly agree- the idea of what isa normal existence regardless of if working or middle class has kind of changed and involves spending more money on casual things to do on a pretty regular basis - I can only remember ever having a coffee out the house twice before I was 30 ( I'm now 62) and meals out were birthday and wedding anniversary treats only and hotel stays were only if on an actual holiday - and we were not poor. Paid Activities for children was brownies or guides or cubs/scouts once a week I'm not saying that's right - just that this is how things often were . So not only are the basics often costing more, expectations are higher. Children expect more too in lots of cases- I heard a girl in town today saying to her mum ( and they didn't look well off) 'but it's only £20 '

You can not take suicidal children to A&E, they would be completely inundated. You only take them when the overdose or attempted hanging has happened. What should be happening is children and young people getting treatment or support so they aren’t suicidal and are in school and work. But things are so shit there is nothing and things escalate as a result.

How are parents supposed to work and monitor untreated or supported children 24/7.

We drove to France as a teen in the 80s, couldn’t afford that now.

Things have gone up everywhere, rent and buying houses is expensive everywhere, much of the other stuff about modern living is crap everywhere at times. Some countries have different rules on taxation and benefits, but someone will be whinging about that, ditto healthcare isn't free so many countries which appear to have systems which are "better" are in reality just more expensive eg paying €20 copays to see a gp, having to pay upfront and be reimbursed, perhaps more is stopped from your wages. Some countries have nicer roads but you pay tolls!

I think everyone loves to moan, the grass is greener etc etc but the number of people wanting to get into the U.K. tells me it's not all bad!

I've lived elsewhere and honestly, it's swings and roundabouts

I have often wondered if those who have to pay a fee to visit the doctors (like in Ireland and on the continent) might think twice before booking the appointment. Which means there's more free appointments and the system flows better.

Whereas when it is free, you just book without thinking or worrying about cost. This leads to lots of people and the system is clogged.

If we did a reverse ferret and we paid for our healthcare would it be smooth? If France or Ireland or wherever had an NHS, would they have to wait a week or so for a non-emergency doctors appointment? And then for some conditions, have to go on a waiting list for the op?

Not that I want us pay!! But just wondering.

Someone on another thread said you can get an immediate hospital stay for your op and you pay £3.20 a night. That was Sweden. £3.20 and you are operated on and you pay much lower taxes than the UK!! This really surprised me as they have hardly any people who live there, but just shows they can do it on much lower taxes.

So my DH who had a triple heart bypass a few years ago would only need to pay £67.20 for his 3 week stay in a Swedish hospital. It's not too bad is it? Considering all the equipment he was hooked up to and 24/7 care. His op was at the City Hospital Trent Cardiac Unit - they were fantastic, top notch care and I cannot knock them.

On the whole, I disagree with the OP and think the UK is a great place to live and wouldn't want to live elsewhere. I try to holiday abroad 3 times a year to broaden my horizons, but love coming home.

The UK is congested and blighted by poor infrastructure, rigid planning laws and nimbys leading to.
Poor:
Investment
Broadband
Mobile signal
Transport logistics rail and roads
Lack of housing
Expensive housing
Health care
Education
Social mobility
Social and community care
Remuneration-wage growth
Familial structure
Last but not least the weather.

What part of the country do you all live in? The weather isn't that bad here.