Loopylu

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

That's not necessarily true.  Don't get me wrong, unlike LoopyLu, I love Australia and have lived here for almost 40 years.  The lifestyle and attitudes suit me much better than the lifestyle and attitudes in the UK, and that may be the case for you too.  However the work-life balance is one of the major disadvantages of living here, if you work in the corporate or legal sectors. For tradies, teachers, medical staff it's different. But that's not you.

Firstly, the standard workday in many offices is 8.30 to 5.30, not 9 to 5.  So it's already a longer day, and then most people will be in the office considerably earlier or later -- because if you stick to those hours, you'll be regarded as clock-watching and get a bad performance review (I've known colleagues lose their bonuses over it, which is ridiculous considering they did their job and worked their full legally-contracted hours).  Also, to get time off for holidays (which are only 20 days a year), you have to go into battle with your boss (HR departments are always talking about encouraging staff to take leave, but that's all talk).  The articles below are both recent and older, showing it's been an ingrained culture in Australian offices for a long time:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/why-are-so-many-australians-working-overtime-long-hours/102353176

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/human-resources/aussies-owed-106-billion-overtime/

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/australians-one-of-the-worst-at-taking-annual-leave-report-suggests-20150113-12mwh8.html

You may have read articles like the one below, which ranks Australia high on work-life balance. However for someone like you, who'll be working in the corporate/law sector, it's very misleading.   The score in the survey was based on these factors: minimum wage, sick leave, maternity leave, healthcare availability, average work hours, public happiness and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity.

Of those factors, only TWO are relevant to you.  You won't be on minimum wage or working average work hours, and sick leave and maternity leave are actually more generous in the UK than Australia.  So you're looking at only two possible benefits, 'healthcare availability' and 'public happiness'.

Even public healthcare doesn't compare all that well with the UK.  Medicare is our equivalent but you still have to pay for some services, unlike the NHS. For instance, dentists and spectacles aren't covered at all, you have to go private. Even a visit to a GP isnt free.  Waiting lists for hospital treatment are much the same as the NHS in most places. 

 https://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/mental-health/australia-has-one-of-the-highest-rates-of-worklife-balance-in-the-world/news-story/8c2e410472dd829459ba953d087bd286

Of course, one option might be for you to use your legal qualifications to get a permanent skilled visa, then when you arrive in Australia, look for a change of career outside the corporate sector?

 

So you know my mind about Australia? Why do you always have to have a nasty dig at me all the time? No I don’t “love” Australia and it will never be my true home. As Quoll often says, it is just another first world country. It’s ok if all you care about is sunshine and big houses. 

9 hours ago, BendigoBoy said:

I had to chuckle at the line about work life balance. 71 hours I have been at my desk this week...

Yes - I worked much harder in private practice in Australia than the UK but now work in-house so have my life back. I used to have to do all-nighters on deals here and never got any TOIL or extra pay. I’ve spent nearly 30 years working  as a solicitor in both jurisdictions but it appears I know nothing….

6 minutes ago, Daniellequinn46 said:

Hiya,

 

Thanks for your advice. Like Paul said being a solicitor is on the skilled list and it doesn't specify which field. Just solicitors or baristers. I wondered if it was worth me sitting the SQE or if I could do the equivalent over in australia. I have seen the FDA agreement says a UK law degree is transferable so it was more the sqe and qwe that I'm questioning. Being a paralegal here counts and I wondered if I could become a paralegal out there and then sit the equivalent exams in australia.

 

I unfortunately can't come out in a WHV because I have 3 young children (4, 2 and 3 months) I'm not willing to leave behind. I'll have to do more research into it bit I just wondered if anyone knew.

 

It probably is better to stay here longer and get the 2 things done but I just want a better life for my family and the sooner we leave this country the better 

 

Thanks

Danielle

Have you visited Australia previously? I am concerned that you think life will definitely be better here. It took me over 10 years to be on a salary better than what I was on in the UK. The pay differential here between partners and staff is much more pronounced than in the UK. In the UK, I had free private health insurance from my law firm in Birmingham. Here Medicare is not all free with expensive gaps and private healthcare will cost you upwards of $500 a month for your family - it won’t be provided by your employer. There are also huge gaps (ie it only covers part of the cost of treatment and you pay the difference.)  The public hospitals here are struggling just like the NHS. State schools.are very underfunded. 
I also went from 29 days annual leave a year plus public holidays  to 20 days plus public holidays. To get long service leave you have to do 10 years with one employer which may be hard to do if you want to progress in your career. 
I am only here because I agreed to live in my husband’s country. If I had my time over I would have stayed put. 
 

I stand corrected as this was never the case previously. However, when I just searched the list they only want IP lawyers (a very limited category).  Barristers are specified as a general category but, as they are contractors affiliated to chambers, they don’t have employee rights and it’s a hard market to break into. You need connections from law school or have gone to the right private schools to make it here. 
The shortage of specialist IP lawyers is because outside of Sydney and Melbourne there is little work and what there is is run of the mill. Most young Aussies who specialise in this field go to London or the US to get interesting work. They come back after a few years for family reasons and often go in-house to universities. The IP teams in top tier law firms are very small. 

On 11/12/2023 at 18:12, Simontucks said:

Hey !

My brother has said that we want to avoid Goodna if possible,I just couldn't get over the difference in price .

Springfield is on the radar along with Kenmore,moggill, bellbowrie,chapel hill,mitchelton,ferny hill/grove...the list goes on

Mitchelton, Ferny Hills/Grove are good areas. We live a bit further north out of Brisbane in the new City of Moreton Bay (our suburb is Eatons Hill).  We are only 20km from the CBD though and you get more house/land for your money up here. However, we bought our 5 bedroom on 888m2 in 2009 for $565k and it's now valued at over $1.1m. Hopefully you've experienced similar appreciation on your property in the UK so you have a good deposit to put down on a house here.  

The system is weird - if you lose your job in Australia or retire but your partner is still working you are means tested and get no benefits/aged pension. I know a lady who worked all her life and is now 78. She doesn't qualify for an aged pension because her partner is 55 and still working. Conversely, there is no way of sharing your tax burden with a partner who doesn't work and use their tax free allowance. It's a very unfair system. We are in a similar boat to you. My husband can't work due to serious health issues so I have to support him fully on my income but can't use his tax free allowance....

7 hours ago, Daniellequinn46 said:

Hi. 

I have a UK LLB and wanted to know if this would class me as a skilled worker and if i'd be able to practice in oz. I haven't yet got the 2 years QWE or sat the SQE. Would this go against me? Should I do this first before applying for a visa? Me and my family really want to move out to Australia and I'm trying to find the best way to do it. 

Thanks 

Danielle

Hi Danielle

Firstly I don't think lawyers have ever been on the skills list for Australia. Australian universities churn out loads of lawyers and the government has actually increased law degree fees to discourage the uptake and to encourage students to study STEM subjects. 

Secondly, you need to get a few years' working experience after admission as a solicitor in the UK before trying to make the move.

As a UK admitted lawyer, I relocated to Qld in 2008 but was sponsored over by a top tier law firm because I specialised in energy law and there was a shortage of lawyers at that time with the required experience. At that time I had 13 years PQE experience. To practice here (rather than work as an overseas qualified lawyer under supervision of an Australian admitted lawyer), I had to take exams and then get admitted here. This took a year and I only had to do 3 exams.  Since then the number of exams has increased and so, if you are working fulltime and studying in your own time as I was, requalification may take longer than a year.  I was then under supervision for 2 years before getting an unrestricted practising certificate. 

Law firms here will not be interested in employing you with just an LLB. You will need to do your SQE, two year training contract and get a few years of post qualification experience  in the UK before they may consider you. If you are still relatively young, you could maybe get a working holiday visa and then try to get work as a paralegal here and then you could see whether working in the Australian legal profession is for you. 

I hope this information helps even if it is probably not what you want to read.

All the best

9 minutes ago, Jehwal said:

Yes, i have been in OZ 25 years so bound to be some changes. Mostly though its massive weight gain. I was so much more active in the UK and when i visit on holidays i love to walk everywhere, in Melbourne i am lucky to do 1000 steps per day. I spend very little time outside these days and that affects my health greatly.
 

I packed on the weight after moving to Australia in 2008 but have recently lost 15kg on the Michael Moseley (yes - British) blood sugar diet so that I can hopefully donate a kidney to my Aussie husband who is on dialysis. It is hard In Australia to keep the weight down when you are comfort eating to cope with the constant racist micro aggression from the locals, 

14 hours ago, Quoll said:

Lots of people do it in reverse! Get the job first because you don't want the granddaddy of commutes then look at the suburbs that are going to be so within commute range then narrow it down with the odd eyeball test (check out the neighbourhood - hoons in cars, boarded up shops, less than lovely folk littering the streets etc) then see what rentals are within your budget. You'll find that the schools sort of slot into place - if you dont want to live in a suburb you really don't want your kids to go to school in that suburb. The schools tend to reflect the SES of the suburb and if you dont find the government option appealing you can try the parallel Catholic system. TBH nobody gives a toss if a kid is out of school for 2-3 months while you get sorted.

Sound advice, as usual!! 

9 hours ago, madsadie said:

Hello Alexia, Firstly sorry to hear about your condition however pleased treatment is keeping you going. We are in a similar position - my partner (dual British/Aussie) was diagnosed stage 4 colorectal back in 2020 having just returned from Melbourne. So far treatment keeping him stable, but wondering about his being able to return to Australia. I think I read that for certain cancers (pancreatic/bowel) your chances of survival are higher over there, mainly I think due to GPs being able to order scans whereas here you have to be referred to a consultant. Whether it means the survival rate is higher once actually diagnosed I don't know. 

My partner hasn't lived over there for 30 plus years, so not sure he'd get free treatment via medicare. I wonder if anyone on here knows? He was there for 5 months in 2020 and has had numerous short visits in previous years. He has various relatives and friends there. 

It is a really hard decision but I would have thought the treatment would probably be similar to here. 

All the best.

Hi - sorry to hear about your husband’s diagnosis but good to hear that he is stable. If your husband is an Australian citizen and chooses to return to Australia to live then he will qualify for Medicare treatment. However, in our experience, you cannot just handover all the NHS medical notes and instead you would likely have to be referred by a GP for ongoing oncology specialist treatment. 
When we moved here in 2008, my Aussie husband had Stage 3 chronic kidney disease and could not shortcut the GP and waitlist for seeing a specialist. Queensland Health failed to treat his condition with certain drugs that slow progression of the disease and we blame this on moving between systems and care not being smoothly transitioned. Basically, the NHS tests and diagnosis were binned and we were back to square one. 
My husband is now on dialysis and hoping to go on the active transplant list. 
All the best with whatever you decide to do and try to enjoy every day that you still have your husband. 

10 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

They might do it as Loopylu suggests but I suspect not.

COVID vaccines where basically a turn up and get (yes you should have had a NHS number but they ran a don't ask don't tell policy so we could vaccinate people in the country at the time)

To get the vaccination in the UK for a 6 month old you are invited you don't make the appt yourself so as they don't have you listed as residents you won't get called.

And the vaccinations aren't an emergency need, if you are a few months late it won't be an issue, so it won't be covered under reciprocal care 

Actually I had to phone up the local health authority administration team for the vaccines and ask for an appointment at the mass vaccination hub. It was not a case of just bowling up and sticking my arm out. I had to give my name and show ID to security and be ticked off the list. Really no different to getting a GP appointment. It was not a free for all as you suggest. 
Unlike the vaccine fiasco in Australia, people with current NHS numbers were sent a vaccine appointment, starting with the most vulnerable first. If you couldn’t make your allotted date and time it was easy to rearrange to a convenient time. As I did not have an appointment in the post I had to arrange one as described. 

On 12/01/2023 at 20:50, benj1980 said:

They are the cheapest around. Is it time to get over the missing and shot down planes in terms of travel? I guess I'm interested in people's experiences as well!

We flew with this airline a year after the two incidents and it was fine.  The crew and food were lovely.  The only perturbing feature was the Islamic prayer before take off for a safe flight....

On 24/12/2022 at 10:39, Alexia said:

I moved to Australia in 2007 and then after having 4 children there we decided to return to the UK in 2013. Unfortunately, in 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. I have been very lucky to have had a good response to my treatment and I'm still here and stable over 3 years later. However, recently I have begun to wonder if I would get better treatment in Australia than in the UK. The nurses strikes haven't directly affected me yet, but a shortage of staff means that when I have my 3 monthly scans I have to wait 1-2 months for the results. This causes anxiety for me and my family and could mean that if my treatment stopped working I wouldn't know and my cancer could be progressing without me knowing. It feels like this could be be just the beginning and with the increase in cancer diagnosis' expected after covid that there could be further delays in other aspects of my treatment in the future. I remember always having a pretty positive experience of healthcare in Australia although I have no experience of cancer treatment there. So, what I would like to know is if anyone here does have an idea what it is like to be treated for cancer in Australia? What out of pocket expenses might I expect, such as payment for prescriptions and scans.

I had always hoped to go back to Australia once the children had all finished school but I'm feeling more of a pull to go back again and try somewhere new.

As others have commented, public hospital care in Australia can be hit and miss too. I don't think that you should move back to Australia solely based on a belief that the public health system may be better.  I think you would need a few more reasons than that for a major upheaval in your living conditions which could increase your stress levels and set you back.  I think it also depends on where you live in the UK as to the quality of care  you receive. My Dad was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in February 2021 and the care he received up until his death in February 2022 in Carmarthenshire. Wales was second to none and better than the care my friend's husband received in Brisbane (again with a terminal diagnosis).  

If you decide to move back to Australia for other reasons and base yourself in or near to a major centre then your care should be of a first world standard (as you would get in the UK, Canada, EU, NZ etc) but noting that I have read of other first world countries such as France having medical staff shortages too. A lot of first world countries have limited the number of doctor training places at the insistence of the medical unions and now that the baby boomer generation are retiring there is a shortage of medics all round.  This leads to first world countries poaching each others' doctors and those from poorer countries. 

On 05/01/2023 at 18:34, Cazwilkins said:

Hi all,

Hoping someone is able to give advice who may have been through this previously themselves.

Our son is 4 weeks old and we are due to head over to the UK for 6 months to spend time with family after he has his 4 month vaccinations here in Australia.

Obviously this means he will be due his 6 month vaccinations whilst we are in the UK. 

Has anyone been through something similar where their child(ren) have been due vaccinations whilst they have been in the UK and what is the process? We are aware we will likely have to pay privately as our son won't have an NHS number and even though we will apply for a British passport for him, I doubt we can then get an NHS number to get free treatment as we won't technically be UK residents.

I appreciate anyone's help on the matter.

 

PS I have checked and the 6 in 1 vaccine that is given in the UK is the same as the Australian scheduled 6 month vaccine.

Hi Caz

Not childhood vaccine, but I was in the UK in 2021 and was able to access a free Covid vaccine from the NHS without showing a British Passport or quoting my NHS number. The NHS was more than happy to vaccinate anyone who wanted it who was staying in the UK for a while. I was only there 2 months.  

Unlike Australian medical facilities that require sight of a Medicare card before treating you, NHS hospitals and GPs do not tend to turn people away who need treatment.  I suggest that you ask your family in the UK to make enquiries at their local GP as to whether your son can have the vaccinations he needs. If they are frequent fliers there then the GP will likely help out.   I would take your records with you so that the nurse or doctor administering the vaccine knows what your son has had to date and can sign off on the vaccinations.  You will need evidence of vaccination on your return from Australia to obtain any child related tax concessions. 

Hope this helps.

On 26/09/2022 at 00:16, Constance said:

Hi there, 

Looking for advice on Brisbane suburbs for families. I have browsed ALLLL of the online lists and drawn to Victoria Point or Sandgate, but this could be wrong. 

We will relocate in Jan 23 with a 2 year old and 5 year old. Ideally would like my son to start school as close to Feb as possible but taking advice from others here to not rush that when he's so young. 

Will be working CBD, but will have to travel and will also work flexibly. 

I prefer coastal to inland and have a 900k budget for a 4-5 bed property, need space to ensure family can stay with us. We both drive but I would prefer not to drive into CBD if we can avoid it. 

Help and advice, particularly from those in the area would be great. I've done so much research online, I want a 'real' view. 

 

TIA, Ashley 

Be very careful if you choose Sandgate. It’s a lovely spot but in recent years the avenues near to the water have flooded badly. We know a few people (including family) who have sold up after being flooded a couple of times. 
You may struggle to get 4-5 bedrooms near the water for $900k as house prices have rocketed in Brisbane. Houses of that size in good suburbs 20km to the north of the CBD on more than a postage stamp of land are going for $1.1 million at the moment. 

On 05/08/2022 at 18:26, Marisawright said:

That's not correct.  The discount card is granted based on income, not on assets.  

Once the two years are up and you're in your own home, if you STILL can't qualify for a Seniors Health Card then you must have plenty of money and you've got nothing to worry about.  If you think otherwise, then you must be expecting to live an extravagant lifestyle.  

There's no such thing as a PBS card.  If you have a Medicare card (which you will, being a permanent resident) then you'll automatically get your medicines at the PBS rate (and eventually, when you get your Seniors card, at the seniors rate).  There is a thing called a PBS Safety Net which you can apply for once you've spent more than $1,400 on medicines in a year, then you can get the lower rate.

With the PBS safety net, it is easiest to manage your entitlement if you both go to the same chemist as they will keep a record of all your expenditure and, if you hit the $1400 threshold, they will apply the lower rate charge for all subsequent medication for the calendar year. This is not something that is advertised and we probably missed out on the PBS for several years before we cottoned on to how the system works.  

11 hours ago, Nanna said:

Thank you for that.  

 

An example :  dialysis at home etc.  Not that we need anything but we are all getting older - does stuff like that have to be paid for if you have no health insurance? Any ideas? 

My husband is on dialysis and does home haemodialysis. All of the equipment, home alterations are provided and paid for by Medicare. However certain drugs included in the infusion (heparin, iron) are prescription items and the patient pays. If you do home dialysis then you get some financial support towards water and electricity bill but it does not cover full additional cost. If you go to a dialysis hub to dialyse then no additional costs. You save Medicare about $20k a year doing home dialysis but you have out of pocket costs and subsidise Medicare in order to have the convenience of not having to go to a dialysis unit at a set time for 4-5 hours 3 times a week and sit next to some random stranger….

8 hours ago, Marisawright said:

It's never a good idea to ask lawyers about tax matters, as I know to my cost.  You need a tax agent who is knowledgeable about the tax in both countries, because as you said, the two are related. You will fill out a British tax return and pay tax as a non-resident, then you will declare the British tax on your Australian return and the Tax Office will work out the balance due, if any.  Once a tax agent has done the returns for you the first time, you may well be able to do them yourself thereafter, but it's worth paying to get it done first time through as it gets fiddly.

The Seniors Health Card is income tested but not capital tested.  And you'll need the Seniors Health Card to get the concession prices on prescriptions.  Until you get that, you will pay the same as working people for your medicines which can be up to $30 or $40 per item on the PBS.

A note about the Australian pension.  If you hold a RRV, you are eligible for the Australian pension, provided you meet the residency requirements.  That means you must have been resident in Australia for at least 10 years total.  5 of those years must be continuous.   So even if you don't meet the residency requirements now, you will at some point in the future.  

How much pension you get will depend on how much money you have, because it's means-tested.  Again, you may have too much money now, but the pension will be there as a safety net as your savings dwindle over future years. That may make you feel better about your financial security in the long term.

As a lawyer I agree with Marissa on the tax front. Tax law specialist lawyers are the most expensive lawyers to consult, typically charging a 20% premium on the average commercial lawyer rate. They are also more versed in how to help the very rich and corporations to avoid tax. A tax agent is the way to go. 

33 minutes ago, Quoll said:

I dunno where it goes either but 360 health insurance, 1000 groceries, 80 broadband, 150 petrol, 60 medications, 75 power, 50 water, 100 coffee/lunches, 40 phones, rates 500 pm plus the other odd 2000 for a one off dental (that’s this month), 400 annual sub for a hobby (have two of them), 1500 for a one off car fix, 1000 car rego, 1000 buildings insurance 800 contents insurance - the “one offs” come with horrible regularity and, as I said, minor house Reno stuff so Bunnings gets 300 a month.  Sure we could economise - I didn’t need 2 coffees this morning, nor did I need 10 skeins of yarn at the local wool show but it all mounts up! We don’t drink, go out for expensive meals every week (once a month maybe and that’s 200), smoke, go away or gamble. It’s getting more expensive by the month.

So for someone who doesn’t have that sort of access to cash and who knows they would be on a fixed income I’d say they have every right to be concerned. 

Australia is not a cheap place to live. At least in the UK all medications are free to those on an aged pension… no need if you are on a low income to choose between your health and food/rent.

6 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Australia has always been more materialistic than UK , but UK headed in that direction rather enthusiastically during the eighties. Your husband is quite correct. Australia became exceedingly greedy and the laid back style dissipated to a more competitive and less content country.  Really became noticeable early 21 st Century.  I'm pretty much certain for many the UK is better to age in. Not the best but better in many measurements than Australia. Australia has always been somewhat ageist , I suppose the Grey Nomads make that an exception , but it also gets around to whom you prefer to associate with in the age. 

I agree wholeheartedly about the 80s. Not sure how this issue is going to be fixed in either country as people continue to vote for minimal tax cuts over hospitals, schools etc for the greater good. All we can do is try to be kind and generous to others and make the most of life I suppose.

23 minutes ago, Cup Final 1973 said:

That’s a rather sweeping generalisation about the UK.

I tend to agree. I have noticed lots of new housing developments in the villages of Worcestershire and also in Carmarthenshire. New industrial estates and shopping centres too. 

8 hours ago, Toots said:

That must make you feel a lot more happy knowing your husband would prefer to be in the UK in old age.  You can make plans for the future where you will be content.

I am hoping we don't need to go into a nursing home here in our dotage though the one near us is very nice as far as nursing homes go.  We live down the boring, quiet area of town where there are lot of long term residents over retirement age.  They are all fit and active but a few of them have "helpers" who do cleaning and take them to medical appointments etc.  I can't compare aged care here with the UK as nobody in my family every required it.  I did once visit a friend's Granny in Scotland who was in a care home and it was very depressing - probably because she was very depressed.  

I am more positive about Australia and don't mix with whining, selfish people.  I find the people I know here in Tassie are very down to earth and just quietly enjoy life.  I'm sure there are shallow, money obsessed people here too.  I just don't know any of them.

The cost of housing has shot up here and it is making it hard for young locals to buy a house of their own.  The same thing is happening in my home town in Scotland.

I think the difference in our opinions is that you hate living in Australia and I'm happy here  ......................  well in Tassie anyway.   

 

Unfortunately due to my husband being on dialysis I don’t think he will ever live back in the UK again. He may not be a candidate for a transplant as his kidney failure is caused by an autoimmune condition and you can only dialyse for so long. The average life expectancy on dialysis is 5 years but obviously some people go much longer. I will look into being a living donor as a new kidney even if attacked by his body may give him more time.

5 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Yes, you've been personally given that feedback, but talk to most Aussies and they'll say that life has gone downhill in the last 20 or 30 years too.  It's a global phenomenon.  If both have gone downhill, which has gone downhill worse?  It's a question of comparison and as @tea4too points out, your family and friends are imagining you living in a Home & Away paradise.  Which maybe you are, because you're a single person renting in a nice part of Sydney, which you could never afford if you were part of a family and needed to buy a home, so I'm not sure you have a realistic view of life in Australia for the average family either.

My Australian husband returned to Australia in 2008 after 15 years in the UK and he found the culture had changed immensely and in his opinion not for the better. He felt Australia had adopted the worst excesses and selfishness of the USA. No one was laid back anymore and everyone whinged about first world problems.  The cost of living and housing had also shot up making it far more expensive than the average cost of living outside of London and the South East. Fast forward 14 years and he is starting to think the UK would be a better place to grow old after the way his mother was treated by aged care and Medicare in comparison to what my parents have experienced in the UK. 

7 hours ago, beketamun said:

It was an enjoyable thing to nip off the M40 at Banbury in January for me to fill my dad's fridge up with decent Waitrose food !  If only the whole country was like that.  He's currently got a CT scan booked in with a pre-scan blood test required.  He can't book a blood test appointment on the NHS website until 5th May, 2 weeks after his scan....that is, to make a pun...scandalous, when you can walk into any number of places here and get one in 20 minutes.  I'm originally from Worcestershire and I will go back for summer holidays...but it's not a good comparable place to live your life out.  You'd be better off qualitywise and healthwise over the border in North Wales, or somewhere like Inverness in Scotland..if it weren't for the weather.

Healthcare in Worcestershire has been dire for a long time. I grew up in Kidderminster and we lost our fantastic A&E and maternity (reports showed it was well run and kept within budget) so they could pump more money into the terrible Worcester PFI and Redditch hospitals. 

 I would not recommend North Wales healthcare either as the health authority there has been in special measures….

My Mum lives in Carmarthenshire and they get excellent healthcare there (Hywel Dda).  My Dad had terminal pancreatic cancer and every area of care (GP, district nurses, Marie Curie, Macmillan, oncology and palliative) was second to none. My friend’s husband had terminal cancer at the same time in Brisbane and she was amazed at how much more support was available in that very rural part of Wales. She had major issues and wrote a 15 page report on the terrible care her husband got at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. It is now being investigated by the Department of Health. My family’s experience of the RBH has also been bad. Qld Health is failing too. 

Yes - scans are easy to come by in Australia but in my view a lot of Medicare funds are wasted on just in case scans by GPs who are afraid of being sued which could be spent on more beds for elective surgery.  Australian healthcare is great if you can afford private healthcare and live close to a city but places like Doomadgee where young Aboriginal people die of easily preventable rheumatic heart disease due to institutional racism in healthcare are terrible. Also that young white lad who died of an in growing toenail in SA shocked me.

I hope your Dad is OK and has the test results he needs to get the best treatment.

4 hours ago, Chortlepuss said:

I have found that if I can get back home it fills up the tank and I too can tolerate ‘prison island’. Not that I ever celebrate on the flight home. My husband loves it here, my kids are here. I’m stuck & sadly one of those ones contemplating a lonely funeral on Australian soil. I think I’ll put it into my will to have my ashes scattered on the South Downs!. I own a small house in SE UK which is tenanted. I will probably do some dubious number crunching to see if I can convert it to a pied a Terre now I’m approaching retirement. Perhaps I should see if homesick Brits want to rent it for a stay - it’s in a lovely spot

I have often read your posts and thought we were singing from the same or a very similar hymn sheet.  You are lucky to have some property here in the UK that you could potentially use as a home for part of the year and split your time between both places.  I'm currently away for a week with my Mum in very rural Worcestershire. We are right by a mill pond in a beautiful barn conversion.  The sun is shining and all is well with the world when you can sit outside (with no flies or mozzies) and eat some lovely grub from the local Waitrose in Droitwich....