Postal workers are being told to leave doctors’ and hospital letters on racks in favour of delivering parcels by ‘chaotic’ Royal Mail, MPs hear

The Royal Mail has become ‘chaotic’, with post workers being told to leave doctors’ and hospital letters on racks to prioritise parcels, trade union bosses have warned. 

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) told MPs that postal workers are led by a pyramid framework which tells them which deliveries to prioritise over others. 

At the top of the pyramid is special delivery items, followed by parcels or tracked items, then first-class mail, leaving second-class mail at the bottom. 

Royal Mail boss Daniel Kretinsky said he was ‘deeply sorry’ and said the quality of service ‘is not where we want it to be’. 

Martin Walsh, deputy general secretary of the CWU, told the Treasury Committee that Royal Mail is now facing a ‘retention crisis’ with postal staff ‘working harder than they’ve ever done in really challenging conditions, because they can’t clear the workload every day’. 

Mr Walsh told the committee: ‘There is a pyramid process where it is understandable that people are getting delays.

‘All employees want to deliver and they know their customers, and some of them feel very aggrieved that they’re told to leave leave doctors letters, hospital letters in the frames to prioritise tracked. And we often get feedback on that issue.’ 

Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said the ‘service at the moment is chaotic’ and it was a ‘demoralising environment’ for postal workers. 

Mr Ward said: ‘On a daily basis, it’s extremely difficult to get through all the workload,’ adding that this was the experience for frontline postal workers in the majority of post offices. 

The Communication Workers Union said the Royal Mail is facing a ‘retention crisis’

Royal Mail owner Daniel Kretinsky has apologised for letters not arriving on time, but insisted the postal service cannot be fixed until reforms are put in place. 

When asked by the chairman of the Business and Trade Committee to apologise for a declining service, Mr Kretinsky said: ‘I’m deeply sorry for any letter that arrives late. 

‘I’m deeply sorry if we are not delivering the letters on our promise, but I can’t adhere to your sentence that quality of service is declining as the numbers just don’t evidence that at all.’

He admitted the quality of service ‘is not where we want it to be’, but said its performance had been consistent over the past three years. 

He said issues cannot be fixed until plans for reform of the universal service obligation (USO) are put in place, including plans to scrap second-class post on Saturdays. 

Mr Kretinsky – chairman of Royal Mail’s parent firm EP Group – said: ‘We need to implement USO reforms – without USO reform we have no way how to fix it.’ 

Mr Kretinsky said Royal Mail’s most difficult challenge is to get the first-class postal service up to scratch, but stressed the UK offers a service that most other countries in Europe no longer offer. 

He told MPs: ‘This is a job that nobody else in the EU is doing. 

‘It is not an easy job. The company and the people deserve appreciation for this.’ 

At the start of this year, Royal Mail blamed the stormy weather and staff sickness for delayed deliveries across more than 100 UK postcodes. 

Royal Mail listed in February 38 delivery offices in the UK – covering around 100 postcodes – that could be most affected by a slower service. 

A spokesman for the company said that ‘adverse weather, including storms Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra in January, alongside higher-than-usual sick absence, caused ‘some short-term disruption to certain routes.’ 

Watchdog Citizens Advice also found last month that Royal Mail failed to deliver letters to 16million people on time over the Christmas period.  

The ‘dreadful festive slump’ was a 50 per cent increase from December 2024, when 10.7million people saw letters arrive late, Citizens Advice said. 

The staggering number of late deliveries over Christmas 2025, which applies to letters and cards but not parcels, affected 29 per cent of UK adults.

Citizens Advice, which is the statutory watchdog for post, revealed some 5.7million customers missed vital letters about health appointments, fines, benefit decisions and legal documents, leaving people ‘distressed’.

The Daily Mail has contacted Royal Mail for comment.