my parents both had cancer and were put on waiting lists so long that they were forced to get private care, and my parents are *not* rich at all.
and when I got into a fight at about midnight one evening last year, with a tooth broken and a punctured bottom lip, I was waiting at a hospital for somebody to see me for 6 HOURS. the fact that they wouldn't even give me some ****ing ICE meant that I now have a permanent lip scar. and while they practically forced me to go to the hospital that night (they took me there in an ambulence), they didn't take me home even though I could hardly move.
the NHS waiting times too in general (e.g. at a GP surgery) is usually ****ing crazy - even when I'm the ONLY PERSON IN THE WAITING ROOM at 8:30am, I still have to wait like 20-30 minutes. really? are you serious? what are you making me wait for? there's no queue. there's nobody in front of me. are they just messing around on their computer for 30 minutes or something? I'm being serious - the waiting times do give me this impression.