Taxis could be used to take 999 patients to hospital during ambulance strikes, says minister
Taxis could be used to take patients that require urgent treatment to hospital during ambulance strikes next week, a minister has said.
Ambulance staff are set to walkout on December 21 and 28 in a dispute over pay.
Health minister Will Quince admitted taxis could be used to transport 999 patients to A&E during the strikes.
He told MPs it is “likely” category one and two calls “where there is an immediate threat to life will be responded to” by paramedics.
But he added: “We are looking at ways in which we can provide additional support for category three and category four, including things such as block-booking taxis and support through community healthcare, local authority fall services and community support.”
Category three is an urgent problem, but one that is not immediately life-threatening such as an uncomplicated diabetic issue.
Category four 999 calls are less urgent and can include conditions such as diarrhoea and vomiting and back pain.
He said patients should continue to call 999 as normal if it is an emergency.
According to the GMB, more than 10,000 ambulance workers, including paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers across nine trusts in England and Wales will strike.
Unions have previously said they will respond to life-threatening incidents - known as a category one call - on strike days.
Hundreds of troops have been trained to drive ambulances in an attempt to mitigate the impact on the public, but Downing Street indicated military personnel would not be driving ambulances in response to emergencies.
About 2,000 military personnel, civil servants and other volunteers from across government have been preparing as ministers brace for a wave of industrial action across the public sector.
Mr Quince also encouraged patients to “continue to use NHS 111 if they need medical help”, but warned about delays to routine treatments.
Ambulance workers and other NHS staff will stage a strike in England coordinated by the GMB, Unison and Unite. Scottish members of Unison and Unite reached an agreement and called off their action.
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland now seem set to begin their first day of strike action on Thursday, with a second date set for Tuesday.
New figures from the Official for National Statistics shows the number of working days lost to strikes in November reached the highest in more than a decade. Around 417,000 working days were lost because of labour disputes in October 2022, which is the highest number since November 2011.
As a wave of strikes are set to begin, talks to avert the nursing industrial action have failed after the union leader behind the action accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of “belligerence” and refusing to discuss pay.
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