dougal03

After so many years living abroad I have found it is even worse than I thought.The UK is in a bad state.Endlessly having to find out things for myself like my NHS No.which hasn´t been used since 1982 & I needed to register with a Doctor.I was originally in Scotland & somehow managed to get registered & some medication.Then recently moved to south coast of England.Was told by medical people that,if I needed anything I would have to go to A&E for attention.This I would not do as cancer patients can´t even get seen to quickly.Eventually managed myself to find out that ,if you leave UK for 5 years you lose your NHS number.New one applied for now.Just one of so many issues.The break up of the (so called)United Kingdom seems inevitable to me.Both parts,Scottish/English are at loggerheads,Ireland been divided for decades & still very separate & the Welsh have little say apart from within their own country.A buffoon for a PM & Cabinet have to toe the line or get the chop.Like thousands of others,I was denied a vote in the"democratic" referendum due to the years outside Britain.Now a debate,once they get around to it,on giving back that voting opportunity in the future but renamed"votes for life" if it is granted.Just 1 week before I was booked to return I was informed that I had to produce a written statement by my townhall to say that all my residency papers had been destroyed &(for some unknown reason) a last utilities bill & also say what day,month & year I 1st.set foot in that country.This was to allow me to re-enter the country of my birth.Before boarding the plane,my British passport was stamped by British Border Control which allowed me then to board.Since living outside the the UK I have visited many countries in europe on holiday from Poland,through the Balkans,Malta & throughout Italy without incurring a stamp but gained one from my own.As I had served in the British Armed Forces & sworn allegiance to the Crown,I had never considered changing my nationality.Perhaps I was foolish.I am horrified also at the level of poverty here which will get worse despite the very necessary Welfare State.It´s not the low wages but the very high prices of everything.And we British have not moved a centimetre(or inch since metric is not favoured)from our divided class society that was so evident eons ago.Among so much else,could the British make up their minds too as which systems we are using,metric & centigrade or the old lot.

Pongo

Glass half empty then?

philat98

I have just subscribed to the Times. It tells me that now one in forty Brits is at least a millionaire now because their houses are so valuable. Added to that the 20s will be boom years just like the roaring1920s after the Spanish flue. No mention of any half empty glasses in the Times.

christmasoompa

Well quite!

Have you first hand experience of this, or have you been reading the Daily Mail? Everybody I know with cancer has been seen very promptly, my mother was told last week she's got to have an operation. She's having it on 3rd March, and the only reason she's got to wait until then is that they want her to have a break from her chemo so she's stronger. Her care has been exemplary. From diagnosis to seeing her consultant was 48 hours, then chemo started 3 days later. Covid has affected a lot of other non urgent stuff (my daughter is still waiting for a routine op after a year), but IME anything urgent is still dealt with brilliantly.

Not correct, but all old style NHS numbers (with letters) were replaced in 1996. So if your original one was issued before that, it would have needed to be changed, even if you were living in the UK.

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/abo...an-nhs-number/

Informed by whom? Whoever it was, they were wrong. If you are a British citizen, you have the right to enter the UK.

Were those visits to other countries by any chance before Brexit, so when we were part of the EU? If so, that's why.

I'm going to move your post and subsequent replies in to a thread of your own, as you've posted on a thread that's nearly a year old.

HTH.

Pollyana

You must be really special as I've never heard that one before!

British Border Force/Immigration control the UK border, which you cross AFTER disembarking from a flight. They wont give you an entry stamp before you even board the flight. What country were yu returning from?

Helen1964

Quite apart from covid, I’m surprised the NHS hasn’t collapsed completely from the strain of caring for curmudgeonly old codgers who haven’t paid tax in the UK for decades and then have the gall to complain about it.

dougal03

So good to get so many comments.Please excuse delay in replying as I had to spend some time today with the Bank who were investigating a card payment that was taken from my account for over 100 pounds.Found out that the utilities company that I had joined 2 days previously & given my account details to for direct debit,then decided to deduct the LAST owner´s final bill since,it seems,perhaps I wouldn´t notice or even just par for the course usual incompetency.Why didn´t I think of asking on this forum about NHS nos.instead of believing the medical staff would know??But fortunately that has been sorted out.And yes,I do have a little knowledge of cancer patients treatment.My daughter died some little while ago having waited which by then had progressed to a late stage & too late for her survival.But I daresay it depends on local facilities.Of course there are many other illnesses where this is happening in our country.Or are those TV pictures of ambulances waiting outside hospitals ALL false.You may not have heard about residency papers being cancelled but I can assure you it is true,in fact I watched my documents being put into the shredder & the lady in the office hugged me as I was clearly distressed & said she was so sorry that I was British!This was by instructions from HMRC & I was then informed that approval had been granted.Because of this I had no papers no record will be found of any medical history & of course not even a Bank card.This meant that I had to find a suitable self-isolating unit here which would take CASH.Indeed I did visit those places in Europe before Brexit but wanted to point out how different it now will be.And I can set you right when you wrongly say that my passport was stamped AFTER arriving.The stamp has the airport name with a little picture of a plane with an arrow pointing OUT.And,old codger that I am,I do remember clearly standing in the queue at the departing airport & seeing that being done.You are right that although others may do particularly if they are holiday home owners,I was only paying tax in my country of residence where ,as a legal business owner,I contributed to that country.However I also did not receive any further payment from UK like child benefit(as it was called at that time)for our daughter,which I agree should be the case.This will not be popular with you.I did have to,as tax payers in UK did at the same time,contribute to British Nationals living"under the radar".Or maybe you don´t believe they exist.They are the ones with the all year suntan since,with having no ID cards here,they cannot be traced very easily by our Govn.departments & could sit on the beach each day.Their health problems were addressed by using their EHIC card until Brexit.But sadly for them is no longer possibly & our NHS system can welcome them into their fold as they return.So much more but I must give you space to comment further.In conclusion though.I do read all the newspapers as,as I did abroad,I think that unless you try to get views from all sides how can you evaluate the situation.I prefer to think of myself as "european" not just a "little Englander".

Helen1964

In the interests of balance, Dougal, can you name 3 things that you like about being back in the UK?

BristolUK

I'm not Dougal but...
Real Ale
Fish and Chips
Greggs.

Helen1964

Thank you BristolUK. So all is not lost then.
I think Dougal is still cogitating.

scrubbedexpat142

Flatulence & obesity, good selling points! 🤣

robin1234

Mild winters
Summers not excessively hot
Lemon drizzle cake

Shard

+
London
NHSPubs ​

scrubbedexpat142

Mild winters
Summers not excessively hot
Lemon drizzle cake

Fixed it for you!

Shard

At a guess 75 of the last 90 days have been grey skies.