To counteract your 'bad time' POGS (if you're just talking about the NHS), I felt that I was treated well during those years.
I have two ongoing conditions, diabetes and chronic depression, so I've had quite a bit of low level treatment over the years. I've really noticed the deterioration since 2010.
It's quite obvious that there are staff shortages. Mental health has been outsourced and my nearest unit is 15 miles away (even for routine appointments). Diabetes care is also outsourced and fragmented. I don't get to see a GP unless I make a fuss, which means that medication and treatment aren't reviewed properly.
NICE guidelines state that depression and diabetes care should be co-ordinated, because both can affect the other, but I don't get to see anybody who has sufficient knowledge of both, so I have to manage my own care and really push for what I need. This used to be done by my GP, who took early retirement, because he got fed up with cuts and targets. Since then, the GP's surgery has gone downhill. There's a high turnover of staff - mainly trainees and part-time, temporary salaried staff.
I gave birth to both my children during the Thatcher years and I can honestly say that the conditions in the maternity hospital were third world. It didn't even have individual rooms for women to give birth, but wards with six beds, each only separated by a curtain. It was a former Victorian workhouse and had been on the priority list for redevelopment for years. It was one of the first hospitals to be rebuilt using PFI.
My father died in 2007. Before he died, he had about three years of bad health and I couldn't fault anything about the treatment he received. In the end, he died in his own home (which he'd always wanted to do) and was prepared for the end, but the excellent care he received from his GP, the outpatient units he visited and district nurse ensured he spent his last few months in relative comfort and dignity. I know people who have died recently, who weren't nearly so fortunate, because the services aren't there - unless you can pay for them. My mother is going through it now, so I can see what's happening first hand.
I expect you know that the minimum staffing levels which were criticised after Mid-Staffs have now been ignored. We're back where we were, but it's worse because the NHS has less funding when inflation and increasing demand are taken into account.
One of the biggest scandals is the way social care has been offloaded to local councils. This was supposed to save the NHS money, but councils weren't given the funding to provide care. In practice, vulnerable people are being admitted to hospital and blocking beds for conditions which could have been prevented.
I could go on...
He's all the BBC can afford since they had their budget cut.
