To move the UK up the tables we need to pay a lot more tax but any party that seeks to put up taxes for 'the average working person' (rather than for 'the rich' or for 'big businesses') simply won't get the votes to get them into power (or to keep them there if they announce tax rises after getting into power).
'Mr/Ms Average', earning the equivalent of £28k in Belgium, France, Italy or Germany pays over a hundred pounds a week more in income tax than his/her UK counterpart does
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/1495C/production/_109561348_incomes-nc.png
so it's hardly surprising that those countries are better able to fund their health services, social housing, childcare, etc far more easily than any UK Government (of whatever political colour) can. The gap is even bigger when you examine the taxation rates of the Nordic countries.
It seems like everybody wants to moan about the failings of publicly-funded services in this country but very few of those moaners are prepared to hand over thousands of pounds extra per year to improve matters.