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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rachel Hall

What are the NHS ambulance response categories?

An ambulance
Ambulance services are supposed to respond to category one calls within seven minutes. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Ambulances in some parts of England and Wales will be sent out only to patients at immediate risk of dying when staff strike on Wednesday – although ministers are spending Tuesday trying to persuade them to respond to more calls.

Ambulance services in different areas are taking slightly different approaches to the 24-hour strike period, but there is a broad expectation that only the most urgent calls, known as category 1 emergencies, will be responded to.

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