Dorking road where Royal Mail 'delivered once a week' nearly caused missed hospital appointment

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https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey ... d-26478867

Graham Griffiths said the delays meant his wife received her birthday cards a week later

A Dorking resident has been left furious after Royal Mail staff shortages meant he almost missed a hospital appointment. Graham Griffiths says he has suffered from delays in the post being delivered to his home on Marley Rise since the end of January, with letters only being delivered once a week.

It meant cards celebrating his wife’s birthday were only delivered a week after it happened. Having spoken to other residents in the area, Mr Griffiths said he realised the problem went wider than previously thought. The delays almost had serious consequences as a letter detailing a hospital appointment on February 25 was only delivered to his house on March 1.

Luckily, he received a call from the hospital informing him of the appointment but he said others could have been similarly affected. Royal Mail has since apologised for the delays and has blamed “staff absences” for the issues caused.

“The Thursday before [his wife’s birthday] she had some cards and then didn’t have any others until a week later,” Mr Griffiths said. “Our daughter kept ringing up saying ‘have you got the one from your grandson'. He had drawn special things for her and we hadn’t got it.

“That’s when we absolutely knew [there was a problem]. On our road’s Whatsapp group everyone is talking about it. I get The Economist magazine which comes every Saturday. I couldn’t tell you when I last had one.

“It’s a real problem. There is still a load of really important stuff which comes through the mail like hospital letters. The problems need to be sorted.”

Mr Griffiths also demanded better communication from Royal Mail, as he had only caught wind of the staffing issues secondhand. In response to his complaints, a spokesperson for Royal Mail said they were “confident” the issue had been fixed.

“We are very sorry for the delays reported by some of your readers in the local area," they said. “This follows a period of higher than average staff absences, and we are confident that customers will now receive a service of the high standard that they can expect from Royal Mail.

“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website www.royalmail.com.”