Royal Mail Strike Causes Patients to Miss Appointments and Test Results

Approximately 115,000 Communication Workers Union postal employees have participated in a series of strikes regarding a salary dispute, causing a backlog of undelivered post leading up to Christmas.

Health officials have issued caution that patients might be missing scheduled meetings or test outcomes, despite Royal Mail pushing that NHS post is “prioritised.”

“Health officials have issued caution that patients might be missing scheduled meetings or test outcomes“

Cardiff councilwoman Jayne Cowan presented a letter from the health board describing an “urgent appointment” on December 23rd that was only delivered on January 5th.

Mammographer Surinder Sapal stated in November that following Royal Mail strikes, “less and less” people had called to schedule an appointment, and those who skip their scan might not get another reminder for up to 3 years.

Health and Social Care Chairperson, Steve Brine explained that “the NHS should have moved much faster away from snail mail to digital communication, but it now has a more pressing and clinical reason to make the switch.”

As a result of Covid 19, several areas of the NHS moved to online communication. Now, over 30 million people have downloaded the NHS app, which enables users to schedule GP appointments and obtain duplicate prescriptions.

According to Healthcare Communications, which leads computer-generated messaging for over 130 organisations, “99.9%” of people are able to be contacted.

Since a significant number of people are still not digitally connected, healthcare Communications’ founder Kenny Bloxham predicts a continuous and ongoing “reliance” on physical mail services.

In 2021, a poll by Lloyds Bank revealed that 10 million individuals don’t possess “basic” digital abilities and 1.5 million UK houses don’t have connection to the internet.

The online approach reportedly reduced appointment letter expense by more than half, according to the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.

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