Earlier this year I saw the inside of (and some of the workings) of a local main hospital in helping out an elderly neighbour with outpatients visits and co-ordination of treatments etc. True, C-19 has distorted our healthcare and I can only praise the front-line staff I met for their dedication and hard work BUT......the NHS is not really underfunded it is however bloated/mismanaged and inefficient but to boot it's trying to cope with a top heavy list of customers who are essentially getting FOC treatments but without the lifelong contributions the system is designed to provide in order to keep it going properly.
The infrastructure (even under normal circumstances) is simply no longer in place to cope with the 'unpredicted (and I'm now talking pre-C-19)' demands placed upon it - if you don't believe me just drop into your local A&E and straw poll who is occupying most of the seats and utilising the facilities....MG John's comments illustrates why.
Yes, the NHS is comparatively far far better than what many countries can offer (and it's gratis the way our 'professionals run it) so the cost of an air fare and a stay with relatives is something a sick (not necessarily seriously ill) incomer would take a no brainer decision on....and as a final comment, for many of us UK citizens who by right do deserve access to the NHS - I've always maintained that if something is percieved as 'free' then pound to a penny it isn't valued nor respected.
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