My experiences have been totally different. My mother died 6 years ago of lymphoma and her NHS care throughout was nothing short of incredible and I will forever be grateful to the hospice where she spent her last days.
My father is currently detained under the mental health act with late stage dementia which has been a 5 year ride and the support we have been given is so amazing. His GP, Social worker, care navigator, memory clinic, Alzheimer's society and community nurses all swung into overdrive the second he became vulnerable.
He had a minor heart attack at the beginning of the summer and when he came out of hospital the NHS provided 3 reenablement visits a day for 6 weeks to help him with his meds, food and personal care. Literally nothing was too much for these wonderful people.
I've spent the latter part of this year in dementia homes, hospitals and now a secure facility for the extreme sick and I've never witnessed anything other than amazing people doing an incredible job. The staff ratio at his present facility are almost 1:1 and they all have a private room. They all have a private room, there is large conservatory on every ward and they all have a separate dining room.
I sat with my father for an hour this afternoon as I do everyday I'm not working and all I saw was smiles and hand holding from the wonderful staff.
Where it falls down a little is care home fees which are extremely expensive. I've been told that those who can't pay are subsidised by people who can. So let's say it's £500 a week for a bed, private people pay £1000. That's how I understand it. Not 100% however.
These fees don't affect the rich with their big pensions. They don't affect the poor. They dont affect those who play the game and 'loose' their money. They affect those who worked hard all their lives for their 3 bed semi and saved for their families.
My dad's currently free because he's in a hospital.
Anyway I have quite a lot of experience in such matters now and rest assured the care we offer in this country is pretty incredible.
Dont take the tabloids as an indicator of the general situation.