"Late letters and missed Op"

Been on waiting list for 46 weeks for ENT OP. Letter came and appointment the week before. Consultant discharged me as I didn’t go to the appointment as I didn’t know about it. Phoned number on the letter today and she blamed Royal Mail. I think no one external should be getting blamed, nhs need to take responsibility. Patients need a reasonable amount of time to make arrangements to attend an appointment. The letter was sent second class, it should have been sent earlier. Why is it that all recruitment in nhs fife is electronic yet nhs still relies solely on Royal Mail and send letters second class for OP appointments.

The letter no longer asks the patient to call them upon receipt of the letter to make the appointment, why? A text reminder is not sent, why? An email is not sent. Why? This process is poor and old fashioned. I believe if someone bothered to audit this service they would see high rates of OP appointments missed due to letters being sent out too late. Why in this modern age are nhs fife solely relying on Royal Mail, letters can go missing, secretaries can make mistakes. There is never ‘I’m so sorry anymore’. There is just matter of fact, you’ve missed the appointment, we don’t care less, consultant has removed you from the list. Letters need to arrive with patients sooner and there needs to be a system to ensure the patient receives the letter and knows about the appointment. All in all a very disappointing service from NHS Fife and I feel it’s becoming the norm tbh