Ambulances won’t respond if elderly fall during strikes, health secretary warns

’At the moment the trade unions are saying those things wouldn’t be covered,’ Steve Barclay says

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.