Paramedics have revealed the horror of how delays mean they arrive to find dead patients they are too late to save.
Hard-pressed 999 workers say they are routinely confronted by relatives demanding to know why their loved ones have been lost.
Ambulance workers will be holding their first national strike in more than 30 years starting on Wednesday. Nine of the 10 ambulance services in England and Wales will be affected, as crews who are members of the GMB, Unison and Unite unions head to picket lines.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay met union leaders on Tuesday but they said it was “entirely pointless” as he would not discuss pay.
In a last-minute intervention, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, last night wrote to Rishi Sunak asking him to reopen talks to end the deadlock.
He told the PM that hospital and ambulance bosses had warned they “cannot guarantee patient safety” during the industrial action. “It is clear we have entered dangerous territory,” he added.
Emergency responders told how cash-starved ambulance services have been driven close to collapse by the Tories.
Dave Robb, 64, a paramedic for 36 years in the North West, said colleagues are quitting as they can “not do it any longer”.
“We have got far too much demand on the ambulance service and due to insufficient funding we cannot provide adequate cover any more,” he said.
Mr Robb, an area convenor for Unison who works in Warrington, said by the time ambulance staff get to patients it can be too late. He said: “We’ve got colleagues in control who have got job after job after job stacked up, with no vehicles to send.
“Then when we get on the scene and somebody’s life has been lost, we’ve got to try to explain that to the relatives and it’s really difficult because they become frustrated, they start taking it out on us. It’s relentless.”
He said: “We don’t have winter pressures anymore. We have pressures every single day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
“It is absolutely with a heavy heart we take any type of industrial action.
"The last time we took proper action was 1989, it isn’t something we do lightly.”
Unions warned they will be left with no option but to consider escalating their strike action if the Government continues to refuse to budge on pay.
Following talks with Mr Barclay, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “I hope they see some sense. People’s lives are at risk every single day.”
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said it was “made entirely pointless by Steve Barclay who refused to discuss pay”. “How he hopes to get movement and resolve the dispute without discussing the key issue is mystifying,” he added.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, urged ministers to “make us an offer” to avert strikes.
She said: “Ambulance workers do the job because they care deeply. The Government’s failings mean they can’t.”
Agreements on strike cover vary but negotiations between unions and NHS officials have settled on the idea of answering all category one calls – life-threatening cases, such as someone who is not breathing.
The most urgent category two calls, including suspected strokes and chest pains, should also get a response.
Health minister Will Quince urged the public to avoid “any risky activity”, such as jogging on ice or making “unnecessary” car journeys.
NHS England medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis urged people to “drink responsibly”.
A YouGov poll revealed 66% back the nurses’ strike and 28% are against. And 63% support the ambulance strike with 31% opposed.
