(UK here). I politely and strongly disagree. Accessing healthcare is extremely challenging, made 3 times as more difficult because of COVID. There is a myriad of systems/policies designed to put you off, dissuade you and stop you accessing healthcare - it's adversarial.
Every single facet of healthcare in the UK is crumbling or has failed with the possible exception of A&E. We face the following issues:
- A doctor and nurse shortage
- A GP shortage (importantly: GPs are the gatekeepers to almost all non-emergency healthcare)
- Extreme difficulties getting GP appointments (we have a system where you have to phone up as soon as the lines open in the morning, to get a same-day appointment...along with 100 other people all trying at the same time. Yes, this is as stressful as it sounds)
- Overloaded A&E departments (in part because of the GP shortage - people skip their GPs and go to A&E)
- Lengthy wait times for ambulances (up to 12 hours)
- Near impossibility to register with an NHS dentist (particularly bad in England & Wales)
- Lengthy wait times for consultants/treatment (plus all kinds of tricks to kick your treatment down the road)
- Hospital bed shortages due to delays discharging people because they've nowhere to go, due to a broken social care system