A bit late ?

My husband received a letter to attend an appointment at the Oxygen Therapy Clinic very important that he attends due to his condition !

The letter came today which he opened when he finished work at 4pm. the appointment was for today at 11am

I've had a letter cancelling an appointment that I never had, the letter for the appointment came a week later, from MRI.

Just as well you didn't go before then then.

It was a mix up they have apologised just as well he is still breathing

I'm pleased that he is Ok, Jeannie, but it is very worrying for such vital appointments.

What can we worse than the missed appointment, is when the hospitals try to discharge patients and refer them back to the GP, because they Did Not Attend. Patients and relatives have to plead that they did not receive the letter, but common sense is usually applied.

It is hard to believe that our unreliable postal service is considered to be a safe, secure, timely and reliable means of communication, these days when other verifiable options are available for most patients.

In the list of staff responses in recent Listening in Action exercises at Pennine Acute, one comment from medical secretaries that appeared several times was that they keep first class stamps (that they have paid for themselves) for when they consider the letter to be urgent and requiring to be sent first class. That may not be the whole story, but those were the comments.