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Missed appointment due to postal delay

Posted By phaseqb67

"Missed appointment due to postal delay"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Haematology (Clinical)

(as the patient),

I received an appointment via Royal Mail for 3rd June & 17th June on the 5th June meaning I missed my appointment on the 3rd.

My GP let me know this went down as a DNA even though I didn’t not know I had an appointment to begin with due to the post. The first appointment was a consultation and the second appointment is a review.

I have tried ringing the provided phone number and extension for 3 days in a row and no one has answered or got back to my voicemail. I feel as if this is really frustrating as I would never miss an appointment. I do not want a DNA on my first appointment and I’d also like the second appointment to be changed so the consultant is aware what the appointment entails as he will be more or less reviewing nothing?

This is really frustrating as I need this issue addressing before the 17th and I can’t get hold of anyone.

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Responses

Response from Michelle Scott, Patient Client Experience Lead, Professional Nursing and AHP, Western Health and Social Care Trust 3 weeks ago
Michelle Scott
Patient Client Experience Lead, Professional Nursing and AHP,
Western Health and Social Care Trust

I am the gatekeeper of Care Opinion and 10,000 voices quality improvement initiative for the Western Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 18/07/2025 at 16:08
Published on Care Opinion at 16:08

picture of Michelle Scott

Hello phaseqb67

My name is Michelle Scott Patient Client Experience Lead for the Western Trust. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Apologies for the delay in responding back I had been liaising with administrative staff in Hematology services. Please see this response from Team Lead Elaine

"Hello phaseqb67

Thank you for taking the time to leave your experience with us. I have shared your story with staff and my Manager. I am sorry to read that you have been facing difficulties contacting the department regarding appointments and can appreciate how frustrating this can be. It is unclear from your story which number you had been trying however we have checked the extension that appears on the letters as well as other extensions to this service. We did experience difficulties with one extension line which has been resolved and staff now check weekly. We apologise if this was the extension you had been trying. In regards to the postal issues, we are aware from time to time there may be delays in post. Recently Royal mail had raised concerns over delay in postal delivery due to staffing levels, this may have contributed to the delay in you receiving your letters. I am aware that text reminders are still ongoing but it is unclear from your story if you received any of these, my apologies if you did not receive any texts. It is unclear from your story but I hope this issue was resolved before the 17th. If not, I would really like to look into this for you. Please feel free to contact me on 02871 345171 Ext 214019."

Kind regards

Elaine

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