A mother-of-two was forced to spend £13,500 on private heart surgery only for a Royal Mail delayed letter to arrive three days later with an NHS operation date.
Wendy Worth, 62, spent her inheritance on a Coronary Angioplasty at Gloucester Royal Hospital on July 22 in fear that her heart would not last until she received the letter from the NHS.
But only three days after she had the stent fitted in her left ventricle, the second-class letter dated July 9 arrived saying she could receive the same surgery for free on August 3.
Delivery delays at Royal Mail depots in Gloucester caused by staff and resourcing pressures led to the appointment letter being delivered nine days late.
Gloucester residents have even taken it upon themselves to collect their own post rather than wait for it to be delivered.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mrs Worth, who works as an administrative assistant, said she realised she needed heart surgery when test results came back showing her left ventricle was almost completely blocked.
She then decided to have a private operation after she did not hear anything from the NHS about her procedure.
'I knew that I was bad, I could feel that I was bad, so I paid thirteen thousand odd pounds, had my operation and then three days after my procedure I got the letter from the NHS saying that I could go in.
Mother-of-two Wendy Worth, 62, spent £13,500 on private heart surgeryonly for a Royal Mail delayed letter to arrive three days later with an NHS operation date
Ambulances parked outside Gloucester Royal Hospital where Mrs Worth had her private heart surgery
'It's shocking and almost cruel in the fact that it arrived so soon after I had the operation,' she said. 'I just couldn't believe it.
'I literally cried because I thought, I've spent all this money and I could have had it on the NHS.'
She added: 'I could have saved a lot of money which would have helped. It cost me my inheritance.'
The letter was delivered in a bundle alongside other important post including overdue birthday and graduation cards for herself and her son.
Despite having not heard from Mrs Worth, the NHS did not contact her between July 9 and August 3 to notify her of the surgery.
And to rub salt further into the wound, Mrs Worth said her private procedure took place at the NHS-run Gloucester Royal Hospital with NHS doctors.
'I actually had the operation in Gloucester anyway which was annoying. There were NHS people next to me who had the same consultant and I was private.
'It was quite a kick in the teeth,' she said.
In the wake of the postage delays, Royal Mail and the MP for Gloucester, Alex McIntyre, hosted a meeting for affected residents including Mrs Worth to raise their concerns.
Mrs Worth pictured alongside her husband, Trevor Worth, 70, on a sunny day
She continued: 'They were taken aback by my story and promised that they [Royal Mail] would be in contact with me after the meeting and apologise.
'I'm still waiting.'
During the meeting, Mrs Worth claimed that the Royal Mail also told her by September 10 she would see 'major changes' to delivery times.
'Well, it's October and it's absolutely worse,' she said. 'I've never known it to be like this ever.'
Mr McIntyre told the Daily Mail: 'What happened to Wendy is completely unacceptable, and Royal Mail owe her at the very least a full and sincere apology.
'No one should be in Wendy’s position, directly as a result of poor service. The stress and anxiety this has caused is appalling.'
The MP added that many people across the country are experiencing delivery delays for important post such as bank cards, financial documents and medical letters.
'I was relying on this letter to get through to me and it didn't arrive,' Mrs Worth said.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: 'We’re sorry to hear of this customer’s experience and are looking into it.
'We know how important it is that our customers receive their mail when expected, particularly important items like hospital letters, and take concerns of this nature very seriously.
'We know there is more to do to improve reliability in some areas. We are continuing to make changes across our network to improve service for customers and our latest Quality of Service results show that 93% of letters are delivered on time and more than 99% within a week.'
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: 'An appointment letter for NHS treatment was sent to Mrs Worth on 9 July for an appointment on 3 August.
'No further contact was made before the planned procedure date, which was in line with the process in place at the time. We are sorry that Mrs Worth did not receive her appointment letter in time.
'Since becoming aware of issues affecting mail delivery in certain areas, we have introduced additional checks and now contact patients who have not confirmed their appointment in the week before their procedure.
'This has already helped us identify cases where appointment letters have not been received, allowing us to contact patients directly and help ensure they receive the care they need.'
Do YOU have a story? Email Joshua.Haining@dailymail.co.uk