this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 37 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Nah, the brits have it even worse, I don't think even they know what system they use. Like the US just uses the imperial system but brits use like every system randomly plus some stuff that no one else uses, like boulders or some caveman shit like that.

Also brits got like nothing left to make fun of at this point: They fucked their healthcare system bad enough they may as well be in the US, they got 2 viable parties that are even more the same than the US and they left the one thing that kept the country economically relevant to name a few things.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Depends what you mean by fucked up. Long waits for some NHS treatments, but if I get any kind of serious injury like cuts or broken bones, it'll be seen in A&E (Accident & Emergency) at the hospital, they obviously treat the more serious injuries first, but I've never waited longer than 4 hours - and that was on a Saturday night about ten years ago, with a minor cut than only needed 5 stitches or so...

As a kid, my broken arm and the few times I needed stitches, it was sorted pretty much straight away or with an hour or two wait. That's probably doubled or tripled nowadays.

Mental health turnaround is not great, as that's through my doctor (the NHS). Although I got treatment for depression a couple of years back, meds (Sertaline) and referral to therapy, after a week or so waiting for an appointment and answering a few waves of questionnaires. A couple of months later, after a lengthy conversation with a medical health triage nurse (which was just a random follow up call - that lasted an hour!), I went on an 18 month waiting list for the ADHD test, and about the same for ASD(Autism Spectrum Disorder) as well.

Not great, but they're understandably swamped with the spike of mental illness, or people becoming aware of it anyway, after covid and the lockdowns.

Still waiting on the NHS for the ASD diagnosis, but I actually ended up going private for my ADHD, that was ~£800, was seen in a week, and the meds for that was £100 a month for Elvanse(Vyvanse in the US). I was able to transfer back to my GP after a few months though, so it's just the standard prescription price of £9.65 / month, which is much better.

Other than that last paragraph, everything else was entirely free... so, nah, I don't reckon our health care system is as fucked as yours and we certainly don't have it "even worse"!

Edit: typo's and explaining a few acronyms!

[–] BilboBargains 7 points 10 months ago

I'm in a similar boat to you regarding mental healthcare. The reason we don't complain as much as we ought to is because we don't have much to compare. Our system looks equitable next to America but that one really is the worst. Our healthcare is orders of magnitude worse than our European neighbours, in almost every metric. In Slovakia you don't need to beg them to see a psychiatrist and wait months or years while the NHS gaslights you. You say, I feel bad and I want to speak to a specialist. That's it. You get your treatment.

British society is breaking down. We would rather wave flags for an ultra privileged royal family or invade sovereign nations or build aircraft carriers, than take care of our own health. These people are bigoted and hypocritical morons who chose to leave the EU, even though this is the only institution that is safeguarding their rights.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I'm from Estonia so my healthcare is fine. Mental health waiting times are on the longer side (longest I saw was 6 months) in less populated areas here but private option for that is like 20 euros per session and meds are still free.

Didn't you guys have like a day of waiting time for ambulances at some point? I remember seeing that in the foreign news.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The US is officially metric, they signed the metre convention 149 years ago

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

We would have probably been using metric from the start, but pirates stole our kilogram.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Our money is, and always has been, metric. Was there a decimalized currency before the United States Dollar?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

People don't get that part. The US was one of the early adopters of the metric system. Mostly thanks to the French supplying Charleville muskets for the fledgling US army during the revolutionary war. And we kept making French pattern muskets, (in metric measurements), for about the next 40 years I think.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Within the US government it’s still all metric measures, has been since Carter, but Reagan made a social cause and used it against the Dems (along with a secret “guns for hostages” negotiation) to win the presidency. And it’s been downhill ever since.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

With metric and imperial though, you're damned right.

We use both systems pretty randomly... personally, I far prefer the metric system, but I have a much better idea of how far a mile is compared to a kilometre. Which makes little sense, as a metres and kilometres are so much more logical than miles and fucking yards!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

There is an argument to made that very few people care about the actual distance anything is from themselves anymore. What they are about is "how long will it take to get there".

You very probably have little to no clue what the actual distance from your front steps to your favorite grocery or pub. But you DO know how long it takes to get there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

We use metric apart from with roads

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

How tall are you, and how much do you weigh?

[–] feedum_sneedson 5 points 10 months ago

I use the metric system for both, and I'm from the UK. I don't even know my weight in stone anymore, but a stone is just 14 pounds, like how 16 ounces fit into a pound. It has about as much to do with a real stone as a foot in distance has to do with the foot on your leg. Or a metre with a parking meter.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Like 77kg 175cm kinda weird question though

[–] 13esq 2 points 10 months ago

And milk and beer

[–] thenofootcanman 0 points 10 months ago

Aye, but at least we're not American