Originally Posted by getoutofbritainquick

We live in Looe, Cornwall. There are issues with healthcare. We have had a Tory government for 13 or so years and they have been hopeless. They don’t seem to have done anything of any good other than self interests. I can honestly say I cannot think of one thing they have achieved. It looks like we will have a change of government coming up at the next election but who knows if they will be any better. I must say I wasn’t impressed with Canadian politicians either. I thought Harper was good when we first arrived in Canada but it rapidly went downhill when Trudeau got into power.
There are long waiting lists but I can say we haven’t experienced any problems. We got a doctor without any issues but getting a NHS dentist is almost impossible. Be prepared to pay for a private dentist! Having lived in Canada we were fortunate to get good benefits as we did when I worked in the UK many years ago.
What you will find is food was is cheaper and more varied compared to Canada, as is beer and wine. Car insurance is at least half of what we paid in Canada and property and contents insurance is far cheaper. Energy is more expensive but is starting to come down. There are areas of the UK I wouldn’t go near due to over population and crime especially my home town in Kent. The other big plus here is you don’t always need a car to get anywhere. We have excellent public transit compared to Canada. Both my grown up kids don’t drive here no does my wife. You can get by without a vehicle.

Originally Posted by Moses2013

I think the topic healthcare always comes up and in reality there are issues in every country. Although I'm in Ireland, I still have family and friends in Germany and even there the differences are huge, although some media outlets claim they have excellent healthcare. You can go to the most modern clinic with brand new equipment and then the doctor treating you is not better than your local GP in a tiny rural village.
Even my mother who visited from Germany needed treatment here in Ireland and was impressed how good everything was. The public hospital wasn't the most modern, but staff were excellent and they found out that the doctor in Germany prescribed the wrong medication.


There will be plenty of folk who complain here and I have health insurance with Laya, but it doesn't cost the world and can't say anything bad really.
Sometimes it's luck and I always say the treatment is more important than the actual system. I'd also agree with crime and having lived in Ashford Kent, I can imagine that Looe Cornwall is like being in a different country. I wouldn't feel safe in any larger city and luckily the location within the country makes the difference.

Originally Posted by Helen1964

Looe sounds lovely.

I sincerely wish the problems with getting access to healthcare were wildly exaggerated but I have too many friends with elderly parents in different parts of the UK and they’re all telling me the same story.
I went with my mother recently for a private consultation about getting her a hip replacement. The average wait for a hip replacement on the NHS in Belfast was over 4 years.
I’ve stopped talking about healthcare in Strasbourg to my family because it’s just embarrassing. Two friends had hip replacements recently: they waited four weeks.

Originally Posted by Helen1964

Looe sounds lovely.

I sincerely wish the problems with getting access to healthcare were wildly exaggerated but I have too many friends with elderly parents in different parts of the UK and they’re all telling me the same story.
I went with my mother recently for a private consultation about getting her a hip replacement. The average wait for a hip replacement on the NHS in Belfast was over 4 years.
I’ve stopped talking about healthcare in Strasbourg to my family because it’s just embarrassing. Two friends had hip replacements recently: they waited four weeks.

Originally Posted by Helen1964

Sorry but I’m not convinced. Maybe things work differently in ROI.

As I’m sure you know, the GP in the UK is the gatekeeper to everything else and Mum - and many of my friends’ parents - have terrible problems even getting an appointment to see them.
Then months and months to see a specialist.

The idea of moving from a country where I can make an appointment myself online with a dermatologist to have say, a suspect lesion checked out within a few weeks to one where you’re at the mercy of a GP you can’t even get through to on the phone is, frankly, scary.

My niece is a young A&E doctor in Belfast. Many of those who graduated with her seem to have decamped to Australia.

I’m really not bashing the UK, by the way. I would love to move back.