Health care crisis - not just UK

It's certainly an international issue, for the reasons that you mention.

The only options are ever more funding to keep up with costs, or you stop offering some of the newer/expensive treatments and leave nature to take it's course, which then leaves the rich to crack on and buy treatments the rest of us can't afford.

I expect the pragmatic solution is a combination of the two.

Much as I hate the shower of shit in government, I don't envy anyone in a position within the government or health/social services who has to make those decisions, and I don't claim to think my ill-informed opinions are the solution.

There was a piece in a recent issue of The Economist on this.

An international problem with many contributing factors. The U.K. seemed to be faring particularly badly due to continued low spending on healthcare and the ‘austerity’ years.

Spending on health care is at an all-time high in the rich world. The trouble is that “all-time high” does not necessarily mean “enough”. Ageing populations increase demand. Healthcare systems compete for staff with other parts of the economy, so doctors’ and nurses’ wages must keep pace with prevailing rates of pay. Costs rise even if health-care productivity stagnates. The unforgiving logic of this “cost disease” means that in ageing societies health-care spending must usually grow as a share of the economy just to maintain a given level of provision. Countries, such as Britain and Italy, that in the years before the covid-19 pandemic cut health-care spending as a share of GDP, or held it constant, were already on a path to worse services.

Spain does not have all the unfillable vacancies in the same way as the UK - for years they trained too many nurses due to they way their training system works.  What they have is a money shortage due to government decisions - not the dual blow of a money shortage and a staff shortage we have.  Pre brexit we used to import a lot of Spanish nurses.  No longer

I know it was 2016 but m.I.l.fell over in Spain. We turned up at this little clinic ,went straight in had her stitched up and going home in 45 minutes.
Even then, we worked out that it would be quicker to fly to Spain to get treatment than queue up at our local hospital.

It would be a mistake to think the situation in Madrid means that the whole of Spain is broken. Here in rural Cataluña I've not had an issue in the 7 years we've lived here. Last year I had a bad off on the bike, went to a&e, had a full examination, cleaned up and dressed lacerated knee, 4 x rays on shoulder,elbow,knee and ankle various checks on concussion etc, all within an hour of turning up. Continuing problems with my shoulder have meant a course of physio and finally cortisone injections. All foc on the public health system. I've also had an operation to alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome and ongoing treatment for tinnitus. The local hospital is fully equipped with MRI scanner etc, I've visited several times recently and never waited more than 20 minutes beyond my allotted appointment.

Emergency / urgent stuff tends to still be done well in the UK.  Its the stuff that can be delayed that gets delayed ie routine surgery and non urgent testing

My care over the weekend was pretty good

6am Sunday morning phone NHS 24 for a GP visit / appointment.  30 min wait on the phone.  Then quite quickly an appointment made at out of hours clinic at local hospital for 9.50

Down to local hospital.  Seen at 10 00.  Decision to refer to surgical team so over to acute receiving unit.

11.00  Seen by surgeon ( who was in ARU anyway for someone else so reduced delays)  Decision made to start IV antibiotics and admit for surgery ASAP.  IV given bloods checked ETC

2pm - on ward all checked in, Told theatre list just keeps getting longer with plenty of really sick folk being admitted but they will get to me ASAP.  Possible cock up over whether I was going to be taken that evening and I was given dinner so no surgery until 8am ( one of the blokes more sick than me / ahead of me came back from surgery at 2.30 am)

Surgery at 8am.  back to ward by 9am, discharged at 4 pm ( not happy to discharge earlier due to GA and living on my own - I had to push / tell white lies or they would have kept me in another night)

I could tell the ward especially was under the cosh but everyone was polite and kind and I made sure to tell the charge nurse that.

All in all I would say it was a 90% good care.  Just my bad luck to keep getting bumped down the list as more sick folk were coming in.  2 surgical teams worked most of the night dealing with all the cases coming in - and this is not a hospital with A&E

Not so sure care is that great in other countries. BIL's mum, ex-pat living in Spain for over 25 years. She's moved back to the UK now she needs more care - i.e. care home.

Must say the care I got 7 years ago when I broke my spine was very good. Express route bypassed A&E and straight into Resus ! Then onto a ward that afternoon.

Not so sure care is that great in other countries. BIL’s mum, ex-pat living in Spain for over 25 years. She’s moved back to the UK now she needs more care – i.e. care home.

There are 1000s of perfectly decent care homes in Spain, assuming of course you speak Spanish... I can only assume she wanted to spend her last few years in familiar surroundings, and also closer to family.

Madrid health care isn't bad, either, but yes it's suffering from the local PP (right wing) government, which just like the Tories seem happy to pay their mates to provide health care rather than funding a truly public system.

I have a good friend who’s wife works in the french health system. She recently explained why things are so difficult there. Everywhere still sounds faster than the UK, but everywhere seems to be struggling. The french complaints sounded like a carbon copy of what nurses and staff issues are here in the UK.