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Samantha Byrne Smith, from Southwick, said: “I’ve had hospital letters delivered after the appointment has taken place.
Luckily I have the ‘patients knows best’ app so I was aware, but I imagine elderly people without smartphones miss appointments a lot.”
Royal Mail told The Argus that some high-volume senders, including NHS organisations and banks, increasingly use economy delivery services rather than First or Second Class, which are delivered alongside other mail or after five working days.
The company added that it is normal for a number of items to arrive at the same time in line with the specification of that service.
However, some residents say delays have stretched beyond five days.
Mike Edwards, 63-year-old secretary of a social club in Brighton, said his road has gone more than two weeks without deliveries.
He said: “I haven’t seen a postman for ages, so when you’re expecting letters and important documents, this isn’t very good.
“I think I’ve probably missed important things regarding the social club I run in Brighton but I can’t tell what until the letters turn up unfortunately.”
Edwards said some residents in Shoreham have resorted to collecting mail from the delivery office themselves, though this is not always practical.
He said: “Trying to get in there in their opening hours when you’re working is not always possible.”
Edwards also expressed his concerns that elderly people might miss their hospital appointments.
Charlotte, from Shoreham, called the Royal Mail head office on September 15 and October 27 last year to complain about delayed post, and was informed by the service that staff sickness has delayed operations.
She said: “This has been happening for quite a long time and we don’t have any post for absolutely ages.
“I contacted the head office and explained where we lived and they did an investigation which showed that we haven’t had any post for a long time.
“They spoke to the postmaster, and miraculously I had a ton of post arrive on my doorstep the next day, and this has happened a number of times.”
Charlotte mentioned that she has told her friends about the head office phone number, and claims that when she has called, deliveries resume the next day.
She said: “One time I called them because I was waiting for something to come through for my holiday to New York, so I called them and just about got it in time, but for some people they could be missing really important things like hospital appointments.”
Charlotte recalled calling the Royal Mail customer service on her day-off and being on hold for an hour.
She said: “The wait time is really long and I remember having to call on my day off and being on hold for about an hour which was really frustrating.”
One anonymous Shoreham resident said recently: “We have had no post for over two weeks now.
“It’s my husband’s birthday tomorrow and there are no cards here yet, and we are also missing one or two weekly magazines, although we know they are in the system somewhere.
They added: “We have not seen our regular postman for ages now which is most frustrating.”
Kathy, also from Shoreham, reported that they had received post on February 10 for the first time in two weeks.
She said: “Included was a card posted first class in Bognor Regis on the 27th of January.
“They could have walked it here faster.”
However, experiences seem to vary across the area.
Nix Cuthell, an 80-year-old church warden, who lives on Shoreham Beach in The Meadway, praised her postman.
She said: “Steve our postie is absolutely brilliant. He’s friendly, efficient, and helps us if we are looking for something.
“Most of my communications are via email or house to house nowadays, but the post that I do get appears to be coming on time, I haven’t noticed that there is anything missing.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The local delivery office has experienced a short period of higher sickness absence, which has placed pressure on operations and led to some temporary delays.
“However, delivery data shows no items have been delayed by a month. Mail continues to be delivered across the area, and we are working to restore normal service as quickly as possible.”
Royal Mail also explained that due to staff sickness some delivery routes have operated on a rotational basis more frequently than usual, meaning routes are covered in turn so mail continues to reach all addresses.
Where customers receive several items at once, Royal Mail said this is because deliveries have been temporarily staggered while routes are covered in turn, meaning more items are delivered together.
As well as this, Royal Mail mentioned that some non-urgent items may arrive slightly later than usual.
