South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous, has raised his concerns with the Leader of the House of Commons in Parliament today about the appalling service his constituents have received from Royal Mail in Leighton Buzzard.
The exchange in Hansard was as follows
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire)
On Tuesday, a Dunstable GP practice was telling me about patients who missed hospital appointments because their letters did not arrive, but that situation pales into insignificance compared with what is happening in Leighton Buzzard, where some constituents have not had post for six weeks. Despite the excellent efforts of the postmen and women, with whom I have been out on their delivery rounds, the management of Royal Mail in Leighton Buzzard is failing utterly. What can the Government do to ensure that my constituents have a decent postal service, can get to their medical appointments on time, receive cheques through the post and get a proper postal service?
Penny Mordaunt - Leader of the House
I am sorry to hear about what has been happening in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I will ensure that both the relevant Ministers hear his worries about the poor service they are getting from Royal Mail. Given that situation, it is critical that healthcare is not relying on letters to notify people of appointments. There is of course the NHS app, which is good progress, but many people, particularly older people, will not have a smartphone, so picking up the good old-fashioned telephone is certainly an option they should consider. I shall make sure that both Ministers have heard his concerns.
Speaking afterwards Andrew Selous said “I have the highest respect for our hard-working post women and men. I have been out with them on their rounds and have visited our sorting offices in Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable almost every Christmas. I have seen a much better service from the Dunstable sorting office over the years than has been delivered in Leighton Buzzard. I am calling on Royal Mail to deal with this failure properly with greatly improved management in Leighton Buzzard.
Recent examples of poor service include
- An elderly resident, not receiving any post for six weeks
- A lady with severe mobility issues being told to go down to the sorting office to collect her own post.
- Expected parcels and letters being received weeks after they have been posted.
-Hospital and medical appointments missed
- Letters being posted in the town not been received.
- Financial hardship caused by cheques not received in the post
- Residents being spoken to rudely on the telephone and being told that the non-delivery of post is their problem and not the Royal Mail’s.