The intention of privatization in the UK was never to improve service. It was to transfer wealth from the public to the private sector. From this perspective it's been successful.
From the perspective of the British public it's been a complete disaster.
Fortunately, largely owing to our free press, the British public has now learned their lesson and such unfortunate situations will almost certainly be avoided in future.
Especially when it comes to our healthcare system.
Yes, and the conservatives have been clear on this from the beginning. I remember watching Question Time a decade ago when I was turning 18 and people obviously asked about austerity and the conservatives response was not "we need to stop spending in order to help the economy which will then help poor people", it was "the goal of our government is simply to grow the private sector".
Thatcher even said that the eventual goal of the UK was for all the labour to be highly skilled. The vision is a nation of software devs, engineers, financiers, lawyers, and managers driving their car to work or paying whatever for the expensive train ticket.
We even have a pipeline that takes you directly from university graduation to these high end jobs. These jobs then re-educate you with their own bespoke courses.
Basically, the point of austerity was always to try and starve all of the public aspects of the country. It is almost all by design.
From the perspective of the British public it's been a complete disaster.