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By Violet Brown
A PORTAVOGIE man who missed an important medical appointment because his notification letter from a hospital was not delivered, has branded Royal Mail ‘disgraceful’.
Andy Aoziol, who knew nothing about the appointment until the hospital telephoned him to ask why he hadn’t attended, immediately went to the Royal Mail sorting office in Newtownards to find 27 undelivered letters including three from doctors.
The Portavogie man has criticised Royal Mail, branding the company as ‘disgraceful’ and claiming the firm is ‘not employing enough people to do the work’.
“We are not getting the service we are paying for,” said Mr Aoziol.
The local man’s experiences mirror those of many others across the greater Ards area in recent weeks who have been complaining about slow deliveries. Last year Royal Mail was strongly criticised for similar problems in the Newtownards and Comber areas.
Even though Royal Mail has said the majority of mail is being delivered on time, the problems with deliveries are occurring across the province, leading to criticism in the run up to Christmas.
Strangford MP, Jim Shannon, while praising the hard working local staff, said Royal Mail must invest in a new sorting office and additional staff. “The staff are working incredibly hard but their hard work is not able to meet the need and we are seeing constituents each day in the office worried about the lack of post and some have even missed hospital appointments,” he said.
“From Lisbane, to Newtownards and down the Peninsula, the frequency of delivery is simply not acceptable and Royal Mail as a company must invest in this area because the current level of service is not something that can be allowed to continue.”
Strangford MLA Michelle McIlveen said there was an increasing number of people being affected by postal delays in the area and she has been receiving complaints about the service from the Ards peninsula and in Newtownards.
“I had previously asked Royal Mail to prioritise health trust correspondence when there were staffing problems, but we seem to be facing similar issues with residents missing out on important medical letters,” Miss McIlveen said.
“This is no criticism of the postal staff who are out in all weathers, but it is surely an issue that management needs to get a handle on.” She added: “It is something I have been raising with Royal Mail as the service is not at the level that residents are paying for or expect to receive.”
Peninsula alderman Robert Adair said the situation had been going on since the summer months. He said he has been inundated with concerns from constituents who have missed appointments because of the delay. “I’m only getting my post once a week – if I’m lucky,” he added.
The councillor said Royal Mail seems to be prioritising parcels over letters, including medical letters. Mr Adair said he himself had been waiting for a medical letter which didn’t arrive prior to the date of the appointment, and therefore he missed it. This, he added, was similar to incidents reported by many of his constituents.
A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said they knew how important letters were, especially when they included things like hospital appointments. “Christmas is an exceptionally busy period with volumes doubling,” she said. “However, the vast majority of mail continues to be delivered on time, and where there is disruption we work to resolve it as quickly as possible.”
