Mail crisis that hit Derry over Christmas was ‘worst’ in UK, says trade unionist

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/busi ... 06953.html

Number of factors account for increased delays over recent years

A backlog of letters which is leading to widespread delays in Derry has been blamed on outdated infrastructure, contract changes at NI health Trusts and the surge in online shopping.

Many people in the city have voiced their frustration with letters arriving late.

Former MLA Pat Ramsey spoke to this newspaper about his own experience of an appointment letter arriving two weeks late.
Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Business and Culture Committee has since unanimously backed a proposal to meet with Royal Mail management and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU).

They will seek to address complaints “raised consistently by workers and residents regarding delayed mail delivery and unfair working conditions”.

While mail issues are not unique to Derry, Craig Anderson, who is CWU regional official for Northern Ireland and Scotland, told this newspaper that he believes Derry was “the worst case” over Christmas, basing that view on “40 managers” being sent from across the UK to deal with the backlog in the city.

Mr Anderson added: “Lack of investment in vehicles, staff and infrastructure is coming back to cripple the service.”

Politicians have requested an urgent meeting with Royal Mail. Royal Mail/PA Wire

When Royal Mail was asked whether that level of crisis was experienced anywhere else, it said: “We wouldn’t provide commentary on resourcing.”

A former postal worker questioned how much it would have cost Royal Mail to provide accommodation and expenses for those workers and whether it was a good use of resources.

That postie, who worked in the city for decades, said that hospital letters from Altnagelvin once stayed in Derry to be delivered, but with changes made around 10 years ago, they are now taken on a 160-mile round trip to Belfast and back.

The Western Trust confirmed that it entered a contract with Postal Sort “many years” ago, as did all health trusts.

Postal Sort collects Trust mail, takes it to offices in Belfast to be sorted, before they go to Royal Mail at Mallusk, then return to Royal Mail in Derry for ‘final mile’ delivery.

However, the Belfast Telegraph has seen evidence of how congested the Great James Street Royal Mail depot was over Christmas.

The company itself admitted that parcels had to be prioritised due to those larger items blocking walkways and posing a health and safety risk.

The former worker said he “never” saw the place as congested as it was this Christmas.

Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy said that during a visit to the sorting office in December, “we were unable to access the back half of the office for a period of time due to the number of parcels and pieces of equipment blocking the corridors.”

He added: “This is the totally unsafe situation in which staff were working.”

That has led to calls from CWU and local politicians for a modern facility that can meet the needs of the city.

Mr Anderson from CWU stated: “Most Royal Mail infrastructure is out of date. Towns and cities have grown. Many sites are overflowing at Christmas.

“Derry really needs to consider a completely new office or a second office.”

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said: “While trust letters are dated before being issued, many are sitting for days before they even enter the postal system.

“That means patients are missing appointments, deadlines and critical information through no fault of their own.

“This is not a minor inconvenience, it directly affects people’s health and wellbeing and needs urgent action to ensure post is getting to people when it actually matters.”

Postal Sort said it has provided postal services for Health and Social Care NI (HSCNI) since 2017.

“We take seriously our role in handling urgent correspondence from the Trusts and our other clients such as banks, solicitors and GPs,” it added.

“We consistently receive high scores from Royal Mail for inserting mail to them on time correctly barcoded and sorted.

“This is the small but important part we play in moving urgent letters, and we do this without delay consistently meet service levels under the HSCNI contract.”

Royal Mail said Christmas is its busiest time of year, with volumes more than doubling as more people shop online than ever before.

“Data shows that nationally more than 99% of First Class and Second Class letters and parcels posted by the last recommended dates were delivered by Christmas Eve,” it added.

“Where there were localised delays, teams acted quickly to minimise disruption and keep services moving.”

Addressing medical letters specifically, Royal Mail said it introduced an NHS barcode last year to ensure the timely delivery of identifiable medical letters in areas where its quality of service performance targets aren’t being met, “but the onus is on local trusts to work with us to introduce it”.

HSCNI said it is “not aware of the Royal Mail NHS Barcode system” and Postal Sort told them the system hasn’t yet been used in Northern Ireland.

The Western Trust confirmed that it is aware of “a number of patients” who have stated that their appointment letter has arrived late.

“In these instances we will always rebook the patient,” it added. “Any appointments being booked at less than 10 days prior to the appointment date, will be booked by phone, in addition to a letter being sent.

“If it is not possible to book by phone, patients will be sent a text appointment message and a letter.”

[Mr Rush]

HSCNI said it is “not aware of the Royal Mail NHS Barcode system”

Everytime I hear of this wonderous NHS barcode system it's followed by a statement that it isn't in use in the relevant jurisdiction. Is it being used anywhere? Does it exist outwith the imagination of the PR department?