Postage blunder hits 20 patients

Approximately twenty letters were retained at the Royal Mail sorting office in Great James Street in Londonderry because the necessary franking was not in place and patients were ostensibly required to pay a charge to receive the vital information.

One woman who contacted the Sentinel but did not wish to be named said her mother missed an appointment at the hospital scheduled for Tuesday last because the notice was lying in a pile of WHSCT letters in the sorting office.

"I had a conversation with a girl in the post office and I was told that it would cost 1.30 to lift the letter," said the woman. "The girl said there was a lot of mail there relating to patients appointments."

The mix-up comes just weeks after the Sentinel revealed the almost 30,000 patients failed to turn up for appointments at Altnagelvin Hospital last year.

Statistics showed that in 2009 a total of 13,134 people failed to turn up for an appointment arranged with a consultant or nurse at Altnagelvin hospital - a non-attendance rate of 8.5 per cent.

A total of 141,562 outpatient attendances for such appointments was facilitated by the Western Trust at the hospital in that period.

For appointments with allied health professionals the non-attendance rate at Altnagelvin during 2009 was 11.7 per cent; 16,472 people did not turn up. This means a total number of 29,606 people did not turn up for their appointments at the hospital in 2009.

In relation to the failure to apply the required franking to the envelopes and ensure patients received them the WHSCT apologised for any inconvenience caused.

A spokesperson said: "Early last week the Trust became aware of an issue in relation to a number of letters issued to patients regarding appointments for a clinic.

"On making contact with the Post Office to investigate this matter it was identified that a number of letters had been forwarded for posting without the required franking.

"The Trust made arrangements to obtain the addresses of approximately 20 people who should have been the recipients of these letters and contact was made with the individuals affected.

"The Trust regrets this error and apologises for the inconvenience caused to patients. Action is being taken so any recurrence can be avoided in the future. Rescheduled appointments will be provided to those affected as soon as possible."