ROYAL Mail must look at embedding itself into the NHS and pharmacies as part of plans to water down its legal obligation to deliver letters six days a week, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said yesterday.

Deputy general secretary Martin Walsh laid out its strategy for the changes to the firm’s universal service obligation (USO) in a motion backed by delegates at the union’s annual conference.

He said the firm’s “optimised delivery model” — which would see the end of second-class deliveries on Saturday and slow so-called DSA deliveries — will soon be trialled across the four nations of the UK.