Glasgow Royal Mail delays 'atrocious' as residents miss vital hospital appointment letters

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https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... s-34302883

A Royal Mail spokesperson said individual deliveries “may be affected by short-term local issues”, like sickness absence, but teams “work to clear any outstanding mail as quickly as possible”.

Vital hospital appointments have been missed due to lengthy delays with Royal Mail deliveries, fed-up Easterhouse residents say. Community campaigners claim postal problems date back to October, with waits of two to three months to receive mail at times.

One woman didn’t get the letter about her pacemaker-fitting appointment, Cllr Donna McGill, SNP, said, describing it as “atrocious”.

Others report a resident almost missed out on cancer treatment. Bank cards, birthday gifts and parking fines have also arrived late, according to members of Denmilne community action group.

Cllr McGill, who represents the north east ward, has been raising the issue with Royal Mail but said the service refused to acknowledge any fault.

Her efforts to set up a meeting with company bosses have received no response, she added, with email correspondence only admitting “slight” delays.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said individual deliveries “may be affected by short-term local issues”, like sickness absence, but teams “work to clear any outstanding mail as quickly as possible”.

Cllr McGill believes the issues stem from the Gartcraig depot and are impacting people outside Easterhouse too. She said one person had to “go to the office to pick up a death certificate because they hadn’t delivered it”.

At Denmilne community hub, Finlay Davidson explained: “We weren’t getting any mail for two, three, four weeks and then you’d get 10, 12 letters all in the one go and some of them were out of date.

“I was waiting to go in, at the end of March, for a cataract operation. I actually phoned the hospital up, and they said we sent the letter out two weeks ago, you’re booked in for this Friday.

“This was Wednesday. If I hadn’t phoned them, I’d have missed my appointment.”

He believes Royal Mail should take on more staff to deal with the issue, even if it’s a “temporary measure”.

Jan Maguire said the situation has “improved” from earlier in the year but some issues still persist. A woman with cancer fortunately already knew her appointment date, she said, but “she got the letter with the date on it a week later. That’s serious”.

Cllr McGill added pensioners have needed to get taxis to the bank or post office because their bank cards haven’t arrived. “That is just outrageous, it really is,” she said.

John Parker said: “I’ve been the same, I’ve not been getting any mail, no mail at all, and then it’s a drop. I don’t blame the actual postmen and women. It’s the same ones we’ve had here for years.

“They’re going by whatever the management is telling them. These guys are rushed off their feet.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important reliable deliveries are, particularly when people are waiting for hospital appointments, financial documents or other important correspondence.

“We are continuing to deliver mail across Easterhouse. At times, individual deliveries may be affected by short-term local issues, including periods of severe weather, sickness absence and other operational challenges.

“Where this happens, our teams work to clear any outstanding mail as quickly as possible, with items not delivered that day prioritised for the next working day.

“Our current performance shows that more than 92% of all letters are delivered on time and over 99% within a week, meaning longer delays are rare.

“However, we know there is more to do and remain focused on improving reliability for all customers.”