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INVERCLYDE residents are still being plagued by ‘unacceptable’ postal problems which are causing them to miss important mail including NHS appointment letters, a Holyrood session has been told.
Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan says some of his constituents are sporadically receiving large bundles of their post rather than the regular deliveries they should be getting.
In an exchange with health secretary Neil Gray at the Scottish Parliament, Mr McMillan said that other constituents told him that they had been handed delayed NHS appointment letters after the date for their consultation has passed.
Mr McMillan has raised the issues affecting local postal services repeatedly since the end of last year, when Royal Mail bosses said an ‘unexpected’ increase in demand for its parcel service had caused delays to its mail deliveries.
The SNP politician this week asked Mr Gray to provide an update on what discussions the Scottish Government has had with Inverclyde’s local health board about using an NHS barcode system to make it easier to identify health-related correspondence and ensure such letters are delivered on time.
The health secretary said he was ‘sorry’ to hear of the experiences of Mr McMillan’s constituents.
He added: “It is unacceptable for anyone’s mail to be delayed unnecessarily, and such delays are especially concerning for patients who are awaiting hospital appointments.
“The First Minister visited Royal Mail at Christmas time. During that visit, he took the opportunity to discuss options for optimising delivery times for NHS mail.
“I have since asked my officials to work with health boards and Royal Mail to explore options for a roll-out of NHS barcodes, which are already in use in some mail rooms, to help to minimise delays to NHS correspondence.”
Health secretary Neil Gray has branded delays to local post ‘unacceptable’ (Image: George Munro)
In response, Mr McMillan said: “The cabinet secretary will be aware that I raised the issue with the First Minister just prior to Christmas.
“Unfortunately, some of my constituents’ mail deliveries are still sporadic, meaning that they often receive large bundles rather than regular deliveries.
“Some say that they are receiving NHS appointment letters after the fact.”
The SNP MSP then asked what progress had been made on rolling out the aforementioned barcode system.
Mr Grey replied by saying that guidance had been updated to ensure that patients now received their appointment offers at least 10 days in advance, an increase from the seven days’ notice that was previously recommended.
He also highlighted that patients could also choose to be offered appointments via different means of communication, such as a phone call.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that letters, including health-related correspondence, arrive on time and we take concerns about delays very seriously.
“The vast majority of mail is delivered as expected, but if any customer is experiencing problems with missing or delayed post we encourage them to contact us so the local delivery office can investigate.”
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