And homeless fringe dwellers, abandoned by uncaring Governments in a housing crisis, are treated worse than dogs.

Thank you Ivor for this good article.

What I could suggest to your friend's mother in England is to book an operation in neighbouring Europe: surely she could get a timely quality operation in Belgium!

Also, if private health insurances in England are not too good then there are international health-insurance policies offered by international companies that are not restricted by the rules and regulations in the state one happens to live in: I have one myself, after finding about the draconic laws that prevented me from claiming on my Australian "private"-health-insurance. For years I paid my premiums without being aware that if I actually made a medical claim, then part of the payment would have to come from Medicare whether I accepted it or not, and the hands of my PHI were tied by the Australian law which, unlike for pets (and temporary-residents), does not permit a truly private insurance!