To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken to seek to ensure that notification of medical appointments reach patients before the appointment date; and whether he has made an assessment of the likely effects on arrangements for medical appointments of industrial action at national level among Royal Mail employees. (294578)

As part of the ongoing work of the national health service resilience project, the Department of Health and the national health service is aware the Communication Workers Union have announced plans for industrial action. As with similar national incidents, the Department of Health is working with the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as part of the cross-government response to this issue, and ensuring any impact on NHS services is fully understood by all concerned, and the NHS is putting in place appropriate contingency measures.