Health chiefs have confirmed that patients in the Highlands have missed medical appointments due to late postal deliveries.
The revelation has increased pressure on the Royal Mail to improve its service, with complaints that deliveries have fallen to once a week in many rural parts of the region.
Highland councillors have questioned the company’s insistence that performance has improved.
The internet and fierce competition from rival firms have threatened the existence of a Royal Mail service which has operated for hundreds of years.
Hospital patients have complained of insufficient notice of medical appointments due to letters arriving late.
STV NewsHighland Liberal Democrat councillor Alex Graham will raise the issue at a meeting this week, urging council leaders to discuss the issue with Royal Mail bosses.
In a statement, NHS Highland said: “We’re aware that some patients have received appointment letters later than expected and we have received complaints relating to delays in postal deliveries.
“In some cases, this has resulted in patients receiving appointment information at short notice.
“Appointments are generally issued in line with national guidance, with at least ten days’ notice wherever possible. However, where appointments are arranged at shorter notice, services are increasingly contacting patients directly by telephone to help ensure patients are aware of their appointments.”
It added: “We continue to offer a text reminder service for patients who choose to receive communications in this way.
“Looking ahead, we will also be introducing digital appointment services through the national Digital Front Door programme, reducing reliance on postal communications over time as the programme is rolled out.”
Inverness Liberal Democrat councillor Alex Graham said: “There’s a lady who told me that she’d received an appointment letter from Raigmore after the date of appointment and therefore she’d missed the appointment.
“I don’t think in her case, but often that then results in people going back down the waiting list if they fail to turn up for the appointed day.”
Royal Mail reforms in the IV postcode area mean second class and other non-first class letters should be delivered every other weekday while it pledged to deliver first class letters six days a week.
Only 8% of letters are now sent first class. The average household receives around four letters a week compared with 14, 20 years ago.
STV NewsA Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We know how important it is that people and businesses across the Highlands receive their mail when expected, and we take concerns about delays seriously.
“Our latest published figures show that performance is improving. In the Inverness postcode area, which covers much of the Highland Council area, first-class next-day delivery increased from 78.4% in the previous quarter to 82.8% in the latest quarter.
“Delivering mail across the Highlands involves some of the most geographically challenging routes in the UK.
“Mail continues to be delivered across the region every day, although individual routes can be affected by short-term local issues. Where this happens, our teams work to deliver any outstanding mail as quickly as possible.
“We know there is more to do and remain focused on improving reliability for customers across the Highlands.”
She added: “We would be happy to respond directly to any concerns raised by the Highland Council.”
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