[kennyadam]

I'm also in the UK and there's a very real decline as the level of inequality grows.

I used to be able to book appointments using the NHS app to see my GP before the lockdowns. Now the app just says appointments aren't available to be booked that way and everyone just has to call at 8am and hope they're lucky enough to get through. People who don't need to be at work can go and queue up physically too at 8am, but that doesn't help people who aren't mobile enough.

Food prices are going up and up and I can often see prices change between each visit.

Energy price cap is coming down, but standing charges are going up, so I'm paying less per KW/h but actually paying more each month because I use as little electricity as possible.

Potholes are everywhere and when they do get repaired it lasts weeks, not even months.

Local library opening hours are shrinking.

I could go on and on about the decline I can witness around me.

[arethuza]

The road near where I live was repaired recently and I swear it has more potholes now than it did before!

I volunteer at a charity and was appalled to speak to someone last week who had tried (and failed) to remove some of his own teeth because of no access to an NHS dentist. :-(

[bdjsiqoocwk]

Oh speaking of which....

A few month ago I was told that I should remove a wisdom tooth. The waiting list on the NHS is 6 to 9 months...

[kerrsclyde]

We need change.

Big business seems to call the shots, look at what is going on with UK Water Companies.

I'm not sure are current political structure will deliver that change though.

[kennyadam]

It's just crazy to me that water (water!) was privatised. How do you look at something so basic and essential and think that what it needs is a layer of people added who are trying to extract as much profit from it as possible? I mean, the answer is obvious, but it's so depressing that it just happened without the streets being filled with people protesting.

https://www.ft.com/content/91a2779a-4077-11e7-9d56-25f963e99...

"Consumers in England are paying £2.3bn more a year for their water and sewerage bills under the current privatised system than if the utility companies had remained in state ownership, according to research by the University of Greenwich."

It just seems so obvious to me that for basic necessities, you don't want them owned by people trying to get away with doing the bare minimum, charging the most they can get away with and weaselling their way out of repairing, maintaining and improving the system.