Darling’s £40bn cut in public spending

Generali

PayDay wrote: »

If you look on the immigration sites, many try to come to Britain for education and the NHS. Those that find jobs stay, those that can't find jobs, leave.

Do you mean people from countries with similar economies to the UK or very much poorer countries?

Clearly the health and educational services in the UK will be much better than those in countries which are much poorer.

If you compare like-with-like, the UK is a disgrace to herself. Especially as there is this pretence that things like the NHS are envied worldwide. Which it isn't.

Possibly the only British institutions with a genuine worldwide positive rep are the BBC and the Premier League.

Toothsmith

Generali wrote: »

British dentistry is a joke, internationally.

NHS dentistry is a joke. The rest of us are quite well respected!

abaxas

Toothsmith wrote: »

NHS dentistry is a joke. The rest of us are quite well respected!

Are you sure? Never been to a dentist where then wiating room wasnt covered in posters of people without their original teeth. Is that really a good advert?

Pennywise

Generali wrote: »

There are some great things about Britain, the NHS (which is not the envy of the world) and the educational system are not 2 of them.

I think that most people who do envy the UK for NHS and education are those from the poorest countries who have little, if any, access to anything comparable.

The people I know who live in places like the USA, France, Spain, etc., don't envy the UK as their healthcare and education is every bit as good, if not considerably better, than the UK.

Why should we be proud of something better than a third world country? We're supposed to be one of the world-leading countries, but sadly our healthcare and education doesn't match those provided by lots of other world leaders.

Toothsmith

abaxas wrote: »

Are you sure? Never been to a dentist where then wiating room wasnt covered in posters of people without their original teeth. Is that really a good advert?

You're going to the wrong dentist!

My practice doesn't have a picture of a tooth anywhere in sight.

Minimal intervention is the new black! A backlash to all the yanks who seem to think everybody is suffering from porcelain deficiency syndrome!

You're right, your own natural teeth are the thing that will see you through all your life. Once a dentist takes a drill to them, then you're talking about replacements and lifespan.

Proper preventative dentistry takes time & effort though - minimal intervention is not 'do nothing'.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

Do you mean people from countries with similar economies to the UK or very much poorer countries?

Clearly the health and educational services in the UK will be much better than those in countries which are much poorer.

If you compare like-with-like, the UK is a disgrace to herself. Especially as there is this pretence that things like the NHS are envied worldwide. Which it isn't.

Possibly the only British institutions with a genuine worldwide positive rep are the BBC and the Premier League.

A little overharsh perhaps? Our elitie universities are favoured and considered aspirational everywhere, and our public schools are attended by the children of wealthy people from all over the world who could be educated anywhere. Despite the roblems we KNOW we have with humar rights and political correctness, that we live in a diverse and relatively moderate society is also enviable IMO.

There is a lot British to be proud of, but I agree there is a lot we are ...blind about comarision regarding. I guess the same is true in a lot of places.

kennyboy66_2

Generali wrote: »

Do you mean people from countries with similar economies to the UK or very much poorer countries?

Clearly the health and educational services in the UK will be much better than those in countries which are much poorer.

If you compare like-with-like, the UK is a disgrace to herself. Especially as there is this pretence that things like the NHS are envied worldwide. Which it isn't.

Possibly the only British institutions with a genuine worldwide positive rep are the BBC and the Premier League.

If you look at the OECD data, the latest which was published last month it looks to me like the UK is roughly around or a little bit worse than the OECD average for most health outcomes.

Oh and look at this; dental health for children aged 12 only bettered by Germany.

http://www.oecdilibrary.org/oecd/sites/health_glance-2009-en/01/10/g1-10-01.html

(2006 data)

Suprisingly only average for smoking at 15
Poor for physical activity 11, 13, 15 (the posing French are the worst).
Slightly better than average for cancer mortality.
Just below average on premature mortality.
The worst on drunkeness for 15 year olds (bar Denmark)
Good for adult diabetes
Bad for childhood diabetes.
Good for avoidable admissions: congestive heart failure, hypertension.
Bad for stroke
Average for health care expenditure.

.

NHS is about average, some good, some bad, hardly the envy of the world but hardly a disgrace either, whatever your own personal experiences are.

kennyboy66_2

Generali wrote: »

That's simply not true.

The UK is 27th out of 30 for numbers in education after the age of 16 according to the OECD. The OECD also ranks maths and language attainment by British pupils.

.

The UK has an above average number of graduates compared with OECD (36% v 32% recent cohort).
If you take the number of people who start a 1st degree the UK can look poor, but our drop out rate is much better than average (which surprised me).

What it is particularly poor at is post 16 vocational education / training.

The UK was roughly OECD average for science & reading in the 2006 PISA tests. It was below the average in maths. The UK fell on its 2000 performance (did not take part in 2003).

Once again nothing to shout about, but hardly a disgrace either.