DECAYING and decrepit are the words that jump to mind whenever a mention is made of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, no less) and this can be attributed to the 14 years of Conservative rule that catered primarily to the needs of the few.

It is abundantly clear that from a social welfare state in the post-war years, it has now regressed to letting the less fortunate, the have-nots fend for themselves. The British pride, the National Health Service (NHS), the prime example, is in tatters, having been systematically deprived of adequate funding.

There was method to this madness. It was aimed at failing the state-run system and promoting and giving an ever-growing stake to the private sector companies in the health sector. This, despite the American example of a similar private sector-run system, which may provide state-of-the-art healthcare to those who can pay, but leaves millions without any cover because they can’t afford it.

Despite the growing footprint of the private, profit-driven, companies by stealth in the UK, the Tories continued to harp on about a system that was ‘free at the point of delivery’. That it may be so but gross underfunding of the NHS has created an existential crisis for it. And many on the right see a quick fix in an ever-great private sector role.

It is abundantly clear that from a social welfare state in the post-war years, the UK has regressed.

All opinion surveys show a majority of Britons prefer it over any alternative. Equally, the surveys demonstrate they are also unhappy with the state of affairs. That is not surprising. Underfunding has meant acute shortages of staff from doctors and nurses to technicians.

Our friends visiting us from the UK last week were shocked to see that in a relatively much less prosperous European country, Spain, we could get a doctor’s appointment literally for the next day, whereas they had to wait weeks if they needed to see their GP.

And the GP is the gateway for all diagnostic tests to referrals to specialists in case of need. The list of those needing elective (non-emergency) surgery in the UK has swollen to nearly eight million people. The NHS constitution mandates no more than 18 weeks waiting time for such procedures; the reality is that in many cases more than half the patients have to wait more than 52 weeks.

One could argue that non-emergency surgery can wait. But if you are suffering from cataract and have seriously impaired vision or need a hip or knee replacement because of acute arthritis you are dysfunctional and can’t live a normal life. Ergo, the waiting times are atrocious.

Shortages of GPs and non-availability of appointments mean that people who are ill end up in Hospital Accident and Emergency departments which themselves are short-staffed. Waiting times run into 18-24 hours at A&Es for ailments classified as non-life-threatening.

A friend’s mother in her late 80s who suffers from dementia had to wait 30 hours before she was attended to. Because of her particular predicament, it created a very trying situation for her family members who’d taken her to hospital.

The patients are not the only ones on the receiving end. My elder daughter who is a doctor in the NHS has routinely spoken of feeling burnt out while working in A&E because of the long working hours and the stress of not being able to treat all patients within a reasonable time frame.

Two of her colleagues have said adieu to the profession after investing so much time and effort in becoming doctors because the stress became unbearable and they feared it impacted their decision-making ability adversely. They quit rather than take risks with patient safety.

There have been many signs of the decay in the UK under the Tories. One that affects me personally whenever I travel there is how poorly and callously under-resourced the facilities for the disabled are. I use a wheelchair as an injury has eaten into my ability to walk long distances in short periods of time, as I used to, despite having had polio as a child.

If you need a wheelchair, the UK must be at the bottom of the pile. Yes, we groan and moan endlessly and, I’d say, rightly about the lack of facilities and empathy for those needing extra help in Pakistan but at least at airports I have never experienced any issues getting a wheelchair.

Even with its free market, capitalist ethos, the US has legislation safeguarding the rights of the disabled/ differently abled. Over the years, whenever I have arrived at a US airport I have never had to wait for a wheelchair. It is waiting at the door and the cabin crew ensure I am first off the aircraft.

Spain is no different. In fact, those tasked with facilitating people with special needs always seem to take pride and pleasure in doing their jobs. They are forever smiling. My recent experience at Munich airport was identical.

I shudder at the thought of arriving at London Heathrow or Gatwick airport, for that matter, because the waiting times for a wheelchair and the attitude of most of the special handling staff makes me feel as if I am not wanted, as if my disability is a ruse to bother those presumably paid to assist me.

The family has to go one way and I another. More than once they have gone through immigration, picked up our luggage, exited the arrivals area and waited up to 45 minutes for me outside. A lovely South African-origin Swiss staff member who assisted me at Zurich airport just this last month said they never separated families from passengers with special needs, as it created avoidable anxiety.

When I groaned about how awful things were in the UK, he had the perfect explanation:

“Sir, they colonised us, looted and plundered our resources. That wealth seems to be running out now. And that’s the reason everything is falling apart.”

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024