Ambulance union leaders were today accused of putting lives at risk by refusing to help ease the impact of strike action due to start tomorrow.

Business Secretary lashed out ahead of a walkout by tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff in England on Monday in what is expected to be the biggest strike in history.

The nurses are due to strike again on Tuesday while ambulance crews and call handlers will return to the picket lines on Friday.

But Mr Shapps suggested that union leaders were not helping the Army organise cover, leading to a ‘postcode lottery when it comes to having a heart attack or a stroke’.

His claim was branded an ‘absolute …utter lie’ by Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, who suggested he was ‘out of his depth’. 

Mr Shapps told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: ‘I am concerned that it does, if you have a situation which has been happening so far where you don’t have co-operation between the back-up services – typically the Army – and the people who are striking.

‘We have seen the situation where the Royal College of Nursing very responsibly before the strikes told the NHS ‘This is where we are going to be striking’ and they are able to put the emergency cover in place.

‘Unfortunately we have been seeing a situation with the ambulance unions where they refuse to provide that information. That leaves the Army, who are driving the back-ups here, in a very difficult position – a postcode lottery when it comes to having a heart attack or a stroke when there is a strike on.

‘We cannot have that situation. That is why I am introducing laws for pengeluaran sgp minimum safety levels.’

Health Secretary  made an 11th-hour appeal to union bosses last night to ‘call off the strikes’.

Mr Barclay said he had been having ‘constructive talks with unions about what is affordable’ in terms of pay for the next financial year, adding: ‘I urge them to call off the strikes and come back to the table.’

Seven of England’s ten regional ambulance services will be hit by strikes tomorrow.

Mr Barclay said NHS contingency plans are in place but the strikes will ‘undoubtedly have an impact on patients’.

Royal College of Nursing boss Pat Cullen last night dampened hopes of any breakthrough by accusing the Government once again of ‘doing nothing’ to resolve the walkouts.

Meanwhile shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds suggested Labour in power would not be able to offer double-digit pay rises to public sector workers.

Asked if his party would give nurses a 10 per cent pay rise, Mr Reynolds told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: ‘Realistically the top opening offer we probably wouldn’t be able to meet that but we would negotiate.

‘And fundamentally we have a much more compelling message about those workload problems because we’ve got that plan to abolish the non-dom rule for the super-rich and therefore use that revenue – over £3 billion – to vastly increase the numbers of doctors, nurses, midwives in the system.

‘So that would be part of the negotiation.’