Ambulance paramedics will not respond to a fall at home by an elderly person when they go on strike later this month, the health secretary has warned.
Steve Barclay said talks are only beginning now to decide which incidents will trigger a call out during the walkouts – but indicated category three calls, including falls, would not.
“At the moment, the trade unions are saying those things wouldn’t be covered,” Mr Barclay said, arguing they “didn’t want to get into the details” before the strikes were announced, for 21 and 28 December.
He warned: “They have said that they will cover life threatening conditions, so that tends to less those sort of cases. They’re usually called a category three.”
Mr Barclay said he expected category two emergency calls – for a stroke, for example – would be prioritised, alongside category one which are life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
The health secretary is accused of refusing to hold detailed talks on pay with unions, but accused them of creating a “pre condition” when negotiations were needed on wider issues.
And he insisted the public would not support giving public sector workers pay rises in line with galloping inflation because it would cost £28bn.
“I think many of your viewers who are facing pressures with the cost of living would say a further £1,000 cost for them and each household to pay £28bn extra, at a time a cost of living pressure, will be too much,” he told Sky News.
The ambulance workers have voted for strike action after being offered a 4 per cent pay increase – when the inflation rate is above 11 per cent.
The 21 December action will involve around 25,000 paramedics, call handlers and emergency care assistants at 10 of the 11 trusts in England and Wales. A further strike at 9 trusts will take place a week later.
Union leaders will meet NHS England and industry associations on Thursday to agree exactly which types of emergency call they will respond to.
Ministers have hinted the army will be drafted in to drive ambulances, but no decision has been taken with strike planning usually left to local NHS bosses.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Clearly, if there is any risk of not being able to provide emergency services, it is likely the army would have to be mobilised.”
Asked if he accepts the word “crisis” to describe the NHS, Mr Barclay told the BBC: “People can come up with whichever term they want.”
The health secretary also said there is no shortage of antibiotics to treat people amid an increasing number of cases of Strep A.
“We’re in very close contact with our medical suppliers. They’re under a duty to notify us if there are supply shortages. They have not done so as yet,” he said.
