Shropshire Star

Why Oswestry hospital post office is in a league of its own

A post office that has opened inside a Shropshire hospital for many years has been taken over by its League of Friends – the first in the UK to do so.

Published

The official opening of the Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital Post Office was marked by town mayor Sandy Best, hospital chief executive Mark Brandreth and League of Friends chairman Peter David cutting the ribbon.

The post office had been based next door to the League of Friends shop in separate premises.

When the former long-serving postmaster Sheila Donning wanted to leave to concentrate on her other branch at Gobowen, the League of Friends agreed to take on the post office and to combine the shops to make better use of the space and avoid duplication of products.

Both shop premises in the foyer of the hospital have now merged, with the new League of Friends shop and post office fully refurbished in a project that took five weeks.

The old-style full screened post office counter has been replaced by a modern open-plan counter alongside the retail counter.

Patients, staff and those visiting the Orthopaedic Post Office will benefit from longer opening hours, Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm, Saturday: 9am to 3.30pm and Sunday: 9am to 12 noon, equalling more than 14 hours extra.

Councillor Best said: “I am delighted to be opening this fully refurbished League of Friends shop and Post Office. It looks great and I am sure that patients, staff and visitors alike will appreciate this modern well-stocked shop and Post Office that is conveniently located in the hospital.”

The new postmaster is Victoria Sugden, charity director at The League of Friends. A team of paid staff are employed by the League of Friends to operate the post office and volunteers run the shop.

League of Friends chairman, Peter David, said: "The league is happy to be providing this valuable service to the hospital, its staff, visitors and patients alike. This is further evidence of the way the league is slowly integrating into the day to day life of the hospital.

Profits from running the shop and post office are ploughed back into the hospital to improve the care and comfort of patients, visitors and staff, above and beyond what the NHS can fund and provide.

Local residents and small business customers will be able to access a wide range of post office and mail services, including Special Delivery, Local Collect, home shopping returns, online banking cash deposits and withdrawals. Other services include Post Office Card Account withdrawals, sending funds abroad using Moneygram, and customers can also pay bills, euros and dollars on demand and other pre-order travel money, and top up mobile phones.