Question follow-through · 120334

NHS: Postal Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS appointments missed as a result of delays in the delivery of appointment letters by Royal Mail in the last 12 months.

answeredDepartment of Health and Social Care

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Department of Health and Social Care
Tabled
12 Mar 2026
Target answer date
16 Mar 2026
Answer
23 Mar 2026 · 11 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Health and care

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Votes on this topic

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Recorded timeline

  1. 12 Mar 2026

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS appointments missed as a result of delays in the delivery of appointment letters by Royal Mail in the last 12 months.

  2. 16 Mar 2026

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 23 Mar 2026

    Answer published

    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...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

NHS: Drugs and Medical Equipment

20 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS medicines and medical devices depend on overseas supply chains, and what action is being taken to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

NHS: Drugs

20 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the UK’s preparedness for medicine shortages caused by future pandemics or international disruptions.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Infected Blood Inquiry

26 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to implement recommendation nine of the Infected Blood Inquiry's report.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Social Media: Mental Health

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Government intends to provide to individuals who have experienced mental harm as a result of social media use.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Mental Health: Social Media

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has reviewed recent evidence on the potential impact of social media on users’ mental health.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Radiotherapy

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK residents received proton beam therapy (a) domestically and (b) overseas under NHS commissioning arrangements in each of the last five financial years.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Radiotherapy

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who were eligible for proton beam therapy but did not receive it due to availability in each of the last five years.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Radiotherapy

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) current and (b) future demand for proton beam therapy in England.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Cancer: Medical Treatments

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in access to proton beam therapy and other highly specialised cancer treatments.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Cancer: Waiting Lists

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in England (a) are awaiting cancer treatment and (b) have been waiting longer than the (i) 31 and (ii) 62 day targets.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Cancer: Waiting Lists

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to access specialist cancer treatments on patient outcomes and long term NHS costs.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Radiotherapy: Expenditure

22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) average and (b) total out of pocket costs incurred by patients and families accessing proton beam therapy, including travel, accommodation and subsi