Written Question·Department of Health and Social Care·UIN 120336

NHS: Postal Services

Tabled: 12 March 2026
Answered: 23 March 2026

Question

Ian Lavery

LabourBlyth and Ashington

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patient samples sent via Royal Mail have been rendered unusable due to late arrival at laboratories in each of the last five years.

Answer

Karin Smyth
The monitoring of National Health Service patient correspondence, including appointment letters, is the responsibility of individual NHS providers. Data is not held centrally on the reasons why an appointment is registered as a ‘did not attend’. This incl...

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