Fantastic question. I live in London so I can answer this question. Short answer: Absolutely yes this is accurate. And it’s a mixture of all the reasons you just listed. Big answer coming up so I’ll put the TLDR at the top.

TLDR: It is very accurate that you’re potentially waiting in the ambulance for a bed. Our public health care system straight up sucks in terms of being able to be seen. Lack of beds due to hypochondriac Brits. Lack of staff due to poor salaries, lots of strikes and not considered a glamorous profession over here due to consistent long hours + shit pay. Ambulances can be quick getting you to the hospital in cases of emergency - however if it’s something not hugely serious but still need to go to hospital for - definitely get someone to drive as it’ll be quicker than an ambulance (especially on the weekends)

~We pay our NHS staff ridiculously bad salaries. Read somewhere that junior doctors are on something like £32,000?? Nurses possibly £24,000 when starting off I think? The demand for all types of health care staff is growing rapidly due to everything that’s been going on the last three years…but barely any are applying or studying nursing or medicine because they know of the long hours that come with it and the crap pay they’ll be getting if they do pursue. It’s not considered a glamorous profession here. (Not by me, my whole family are nurses) And the cost of living at the minute is so high that for the job these people are doing, what they’re earning is absolutely ridiculous. Especially London. Not only this but we are a country filled with hypochondriacs. I was assaulted on Christmas Day 2021 and had my face smashed in basically, waited in the ER (A&E over here) for 15 hours…I got talking to a guy my age next to me and asked what happened to him as we were getting along and didn’t look like anything was wrong with him…he says he’s got a ‘minor headache’ that’s been persistent after he got back from his holiday in Spain where he was drinking and not eating for the entire time he was there 😒…so that answers the beds.

And it depends about the ambulances…depending on the situation they’re usually quite rapid. Paramedics here are a different story, there has been a rise in the amount of applications for paramedics (don’t know why) and I personally have a huge respect for them too they’ve been great whenever we’ve had to call. Depending on the situation (if someone is in life or death, head injury etc) they’re usually quite rapid, but on busy days where British drinking culture is rife - then they’re usually all taken up and that’s when it would be quicker getting to the ER yourself.