"Wasted duplication of postal letters and texts"

I have had 3 and 6 monthly and Opthalmology check-ups at Furness General Hospital over the past 2 or 3 years.

Each time I am notified of the date/time by text. The text always says that if not opened within 48 hours, the hospital will post a letter.

I then receive a second text asking me to attend 10 minutes earlier, also with the 48 hour opening criteria.

I always open these texts the same day it is received.

But a few days later I still receive a letter in the post duplicating the text appointment.

A couple of days later I receive another postal letter with an appointment time 10 minutes earlier with the same Hospital Ref. No.

One letter refers to a Visual Field Assessment and the other to see an Opthalmologist but both are the same department and are scheduled within 10 minutes of each other.

Surely this duplication, I believe, both for the 2 unnecassary letters and the 2 appointment times within 10 minutes of each other can be fine tuned, thus, in my opinion, saving over the whole of the NHS money in wasted man hours, in producing wasted mail and postage costs.

Also the wasted postal deliveries have to make which affects their productivity and efficiency may not be your direct concern, but their time can be better spent on delivering letters that really matter, thereby helping improve delivery timelines.

I believe, this waste of money is not insignificant and we should all be mindful of that in seeking to make the NHS more efficient and cost effective.

I am writing this in good faith and with the NHS’s cost effectiveness in mind.

May I add that the service provided by the Opthalmology Dept was exemplary.

I trust this finding will be acted upon nationwide and I would be interested in your response and any actions taken.