There's a sad trend going on in our town at the moment, and I suspect many other towns across this country? Shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants in the town centre are closing their doors at an ever increasing rate and being replaced by things like private GP surgeries, clinics (of various kinds) and barbers (??), I think our little town has at least 10 places where a bloke can get a quick hair cut!
I guess people are suffering from ever increasing rates and rents and struggling to make a living on low margin businesses like retail and hospitality. The other dynamic that's happening is the seemingly total disintegration of the NHS, we've gone from (in 2018) being able to get a GP appointment the same morning as you call, to not being able to get anyone to answer the phone in a whole morning!
I guess that people are feeling the pinch and going out for food and drink a lot less than pre-covid and those businesses are getting squeezed. Private health establishments (pay by appointment) seem to be popping up everywhere, I suppose they're servicing a desire for decent response times (or even just some response) for our community health issues.
Our communities seem to be changing and I couldn't honestly say it's for the better. Will we all end up huddled around our TV's waiting for food deliveries, house by house not ever venturing out unless it's to visit a private dental clinic which we've been saving up for the last 6 months, strange times.
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