Royal Mail's Economy Access mail is a lower-priced service for non-time critical letters. This service is widely used by UK businesses and elsewhere in the public sector, but less so in the NHS despite the cost savings it offers compared to higher usage of first and second-class mail and their equivalents.
Royal Mail's proposed offer for the NHS is that the Economy Access mail option enables trust post to be delivered up to five days after collection, five days a week.
Economy Access mail can be used alongside first and second-class services for more urgent letters, with this product mix helping to ensure patients receive letters at the right time and in a way that makes best use of a trust’s mail budget.
In engaging with Royal Mail on these proposals, trusts and other NHS stakeholders said:
- Reliability was valued most, with the majority of mail important but not urgent.
- There is a continuing need for a mix of mail types with a range of price and speed, including first-class mail and parcels, and cost is important.
- Around 10% to 15% of NHS mail is estimated to be sent first-class, with the remainder sent second-class or its bulk mail equivalent and very little use of Economy Access mail.
- When NHS mail is urgent it can affect a patients' ongoing treatment and equitable access to care.
Increased use of the Economy Access service therefore offers trusts an opportunity to reduce costs without compromising patient experience.
Broadly, trust mail is sent via a digital intermediary, through hybrid mail or through a post room. Some lead time may therefore be required to incorporate Economy Access mail into trust mail use, but we expect most suppliers to be experienced in this given the use made of the service by other sectors.
Royal Mail has also adjusted existing practices to benefit the NHS and will be deploying a new NHS-specific barcode indicator to help optimise the delivery of NHS letters in times of national disruption, such as a national pandemic and local service disruption.