An Oxford care worker missed her appointment for important hospital tests because a letter took five weeks to arrive.

Sheena Partlett

Sheena Partlett, 42, of Barton, attacked the state of the postal service in the area after she missed an appointment to have a lump on her neck examined to determine if it could be cancerous.

The letter from the Radcliffe Infirmary, dated December 11, did not arrive until January 16 -- a week after she was meant to undergo tests.

Royal Mail spokesman Adrian Booth said the only complaint they had on record from Mrs Partlett did not relate to the delay in receiving her hospital letter, but he added: "Five weeks is serious and we apologise for this. Something has gone wrong. We're concerned to hear about it and we would like the opportunity to investigate."

The Communication Workers Union claims postal services in Barton and Headington are poor because of a shortage of full-time staff. Temporary agency staff who do not know the area are filling in on rounds.

Mr Booth said there were high levels of sickness at the Headington delivery office, with 13 of 68 staff off work.

He said other staff were working overtime to complete extra rounds in order to deliver the post, which explained why mail was arriving later than usual, although this did not account for the long delay to Mrs Partlett's letter.

Mrs Partlett said: "It was important. I had been waiting for this appointment to come through and I was very angry. When I spoke to the Royal Mail they said they would investigate and get back to me, but they've never done so."

She claims the standard of the postal service to Claymond Road, where she lives, and neighbouring streets has plummeted. Post is arriving as late as 5.45pm and is delivered to the wrong addresses.

Mrs Partlett said she received two letters for neighbours on Friday and had to forward post, wrongly put through her letterbox, to surrounding streets.

She finally had her hospital appointment on Thursday (January 22) and was told she needed a further scan.

Mrs Partlett said her care agency business had also been affected by the postal problems. There had been delays in carrying out checks on care workers because documents she was told had been posted did not appear.

She said: "I've not been receiving letters from clients. We are getting letters for other people, and have delivered them, but not everyone is honest enough to do that.

"It is being dumped, and delivered by students and people who don't know their way around."

Sue Holden, secretary of Barton Community Association, said: "We have had a nightmare.

"I was on the verge of suggesting we call a public meeting to get someone from the Royal Mail to answer questions. We have not had a regular postal service since about November.

"The problem seems to be that they are employing a lot of casual workers. They end up here with a bag of post and a map. People are so fed up with it. Sometimes the post is three or four days late."

She said she had been surcharged on her credit card because the statement arrived late, and her post was sent several times to wrong addresses.

Kevin Duffy, Communication Workers Union delivery representative for Oxfordshire, said: "The service in Barton has been a disgrace for about a month, but it's not just Barton -- it's a large part of Headington.

"We have gone through a period with no recruitment -- we have got 13 vacancies, which is about a fifth of the workforce in the Headington area. The Royal Mail have only just begun to advertise vacancies.

"The management are employing agency staff on a temporary basis.

"They are coming off the street and being given a bag of mail and a map, and being sent on their way -- the service is just collapsing."

He blamed recruitment problems on poor pay and conditions, and a high workload.

Mr Duffy said mail was being left undelivered. Inexperienced agency staff who had delivered one load of mail were sometimes not returning to set pick-up points, such as shops and Post Offices, to collect further sacks.

Royal Mail spokesman Adrian Booth said: "We will investigate this customer's complaint to the full and speak to her in detail about what has happened."