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

@HotPipe “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.”

I wouldn’t conflate Irelands healthcare system with that of France in any way. In Ireland, except in limited circumstances, you are regarded as a private patient when you visit you GP, and just have to fork out. Even when you have already paid into public healthcare through tax. In France, you can claim a reimbursement back from your GP visit. In Ireland, there are some particular/limited circumstances in which you may not have to cover the cost, or up to a number of visits in Ireland. Generally, you just have to suck up the ca.60 Euro plus. More in Dublin.

In London, and on certain days, my GP’s practice has same day appointments if you rang at 8am.

I live in the Midlands and find the weather ok on the whole. Even though it is October there have been quite a few really sunny afternoons of late. It isn't so bad but then I am not into long dry hot summers.

Thanks for that, it is always interesting to hear how other nations manage their healthcare. It sounds expensive in Ireland - I was really impressed though at the cheap cost of a hospital stay in Sweden and their speedy service.

I am not one to knock the NHS. I have only positive things to say about them, but then I am not on a waiting list. Maybe that's what the grumbles are about.

Last month I rang my doctors at 11.15am for an appointment and they said can you get here for 11.30am! 15 mins - I scooted down there!! I booked a follow up appointment for one week later and had no issue. I am in the east midlands if that makes a difference and they are really good.
My surgery rang me in August and booked me in for a smear test. I had a mammogram this Wednesday. I have a migraine yearly check up in November. I honestly can't fault them.

The only thing I pay for is my migraine prescription.

Also, the weather is fine for me. I've lived in England a long time and it is what it is - not sure why people expect constant sunshine.

Cloud cuckoo land.

Agree. Just got back from Spain and feel depressed AF here again 😫😫😫😫😫

That.
everything in France is way much higher and also unachievable in terms of good education and owning a home. Also, jobs are paid less and taxes are scary.

they do have a very good health system though where you can ask to be seen by any specialist through your gp OR alone.

I don’t think it’s completely shit, but I’ve definitely seen it get worse in my relatively short adult life.

I was just recalling a time spent in A&E 10 years ago for a broken wrist on a Friday night, so peak time. We were in and out with a cast in 4 hours. A few months ago a relative spent 9 hours from the early hours of the morning until lunch time on a Tuesday, in the same A&E department, after being taken there via ambulance - and that was just waiting to be seen by the doctor who just sent them home.

Then you're incredibly lucky. Where I live there are no GP appointments available for at least two weeks, virtually no NHS dentistry and the nearest A&E is more than ten miles away, despite living in a large town. Apart from a minor injuries unit nearby (which we are lucky to have) there are virtually no NHS services remaining that are easily available. A far cry from what we had before covid 😥

So if the NHS goes, how does that improve your situation regarding care? You will have to pay for it out of your pocket, which you can already do with private healthcare. What part of the UK do you reside in? I live in the SE and have had mostly good experience with the NHS, especially as urgent care goes. Maybe it’s the regional inequalities that you are thinking of?

MH is a different animal, as I have sadly experienced for my family myself. The trouble with MH is that not only is there a shortage of beds/ staff/ funding, but there’s also a shortage of ideas of how to treat people with MH issues. I tried to access help privately and there’s a dearth of resources, especially for children—psychiatrist/ psychologist wait times are 6+ months, in many cases a year. I even considered taking my child abroad to
get treatment.

It's honestly not like that everywhere though - unfortunately it just seems to be a real postcode lottery.

And be replaced with what? My Doctor friend in the States set up a free clinic because of so many people being uninsured. Often with two or more jobs but no insurance attached to those jobs. Pre-existing conditions such as diabetes were until recently (changed under Biden) prohibitively expensive. Having a baby is massively expensive. Pray you don't need an emergency c- section. That would be $50k.

Yep I'm one of those. Years of pain, years of being tossed around with no help.
My 6 month check ups as an active neurology patient are currently over 2 years long at the moment. I'm on medication that is supposed to be monitored.
My daughter has a genetic condition that causes pain, dislocations etc and the physios referred her to mental health services! Which promptly rejected the referral. She was left in limbo with no help. Went private and she was diagnosed with a genetic condition.
It's frightening how the NHS is performing at the moment.
God help anyone in serious need right now. Our health care system is a death sentence.

I agree, the UK is shit. I remember when gp surgeries opened on Saturday, when schools actully taught kids how to do their time tables and spelling, by having regular spelling tests. When a single parent was very rare, because a man or a woman actully stuck around and couldnt use the internet to start affairs, (the internet had caused a lot of misery). When shops shut on Sundays and xmas day, so families spent the day together instead of working. Rubbish was collected and not dumped in streets. So yes this country had gone down hill rapidly. We are to overcrowded, so the nhs, the schools and housing are struggling. People no longer want to work, because in some cases they get more money on benefits than in a minimum paid job. Everything is expensive compared to other countries and the weather is just constant rain.

This are more expensive, yes, but they are also a lot more shit in terms of quality and size. Clothes are churned out as cheaply as possible now but prices have risen. Places like Next used to stand out so much in terms of quality that people would queue at 2am on sale days, bit now are just made of the same cheap shite as everywhere else.

Shrinkflation is very real. Quantity of food in packaging is smaller despite prices rising. Fruit and meat no longer hold for as long, even in the fridge. Fresh ingredients and healthy things are actually unattainable for people earning below a certain amount.

Furniture and elecronics used to actually last if you saved up and invested in things that would be out of your usual price range. I have a welsh dresser that's been in the family for god knows how many decades that barely has a scratch on it. I bought my son an actually quite expensive chest of drawers from Argos that fell apart after one month, and it turned out the sizing was all wrong so the drawers wouldn't actually stay on the runners and DS just went with the struggle!!! All shitty MDF too.

Don't even get me started on deliberate slowing of devices by phonemakers and computers constantly running out of date due to constant "upgrades" that are also actually complete shite.

It's ridiculously expensive to be poor in this country with the rate things just fall apart, but people are forced into buying a new pair of cheap shit shoes every 6 months because they can't afford one decent quality pair every couple of years, and that example applies to everything.

I lived in France for a long time. Taxes are more and there are more of them. Health care is not free or readily available. Tried to see a dr for my granddaughter recently on holiday there. For an ear infection. It was impossible. Driving back from the airport on return to uk, phoned the local gp and had an appointment that afternoon. We also have nhs 111 which is a great service. The grass really isn’t greener.

Your post doesn’t even make sense.

I don’t think it’s shit at all! We have a really good life here. We have cheaper food than most places, no extreme weather, the NHS, lots of greenery, history, no war. All countries will have some people who think it’s shit. It could be a lot worse.

Are you sure about the water…

Being on holiday is a very different situation. Spain is far from perfect!

No, I feel the same. The weather is fine. If we didn’t have rain we wouldn’t have such a green country. I’d rather rain than wildfires, drought etc. We have plenty of nice days but too many people like to moan about the weather and focus on the dull days.

Totally agree with this, we’ve never had a problem getting appointments and the weather is fine - it’s a temperate climate. I think people don’t consider the disadvantages of living in hot countries and those with extreme weather.

Try living in New Zealand. God I miss the supermarkets in the UK.

It’s well known that nhs dentistry has gone,A&E waits are ridiculous,2 week waits for GPs and horrendously long hospital waiting lists are the norm. Anybody not experiencing that is the exception.

There are ideas, good ideas but they involve appointments with experienced and well qualified staff. Something we no longer seem to have available for the vast majority.