CASE STUDY

AN ELDERLY woman has to wait an extra six weeks for her flu jab – after she received her appointment letter 24 hours late.

Linda Smith was already concerned about a delay which meant she was weeks behind her usual vaccination in late September.

The 67- year- old was, then, delighted when she received a letter from NHS Lanarkshire on October 20 - only to discover the appointment had been scheduled for the previous day.

Her husband, Chris, received his letter on the same day and was due to receive his jab just hours later that afternoon.

Mr Smith, 68, said: “We’re concerned about the flu jag. We both get it every year and have heard nothing for weeks.

“We’re now about a month later than normal and we’re hearing horror stories about people not getting it.

“We then both got letters one morning and my appointment was for 4pm that day, but Linda’s was for the previous day. It’s ridiculous.”

Ms Smith attempted to contact the numbers provided on the letter, but was unable to get through “for hours”. When she was finally able to make contact, she was told she would have her appointment rescheduled at the earliest opportunity – December 17.

Almost 60 days past her original appointment date.

NHS Lanarkshire has apologised for the issue and insisted it will work to speed up the process.

Dr Mark Russell said: “We know a number of patients have received their letter after their scheduled appointment. We would like to apologise for the frustration this has caused. There have been issues with the national booking system and postal system and these are being resolved.

“As the programme progresses, we are looking at different ways to contact patients, not just by letter.

“We are receiving a high number of inquiries from members of the public about this year’s flu campaign, specifically about when they will receive their letters. Unfortunately, we cannot provide details of individual appointments as this is done nationally.”