AMBULANCE bosses have rejected claims that lives are being lost due to service changes and cutbacks.

Up to three people may have died because some 999 calls made on Teesside are now handled by controllers in York, according to newspaper reports.

It is claimed that ambulances on Teesside have been sent in the wrong direction on up to three occasions, resulting in the fatalities.

But this has been strongly denied by officials from the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas), who say there are no recorded incidents of anyone dying because of a misdirected ambulance.

Unidentified "whistleblowing" members of staff have also claimed that the 13-strong ambulance fleet was down to only eight frontline vehicles last Thursday because of financial cutbacks ordered by trust managers.

According to the same sources, some 999 calls have had to be answered by managers driving Ford Focus cars rather than fully-equipped emergency ambulances.

There is also a claim that the cutbacks have resulted in a single ambulance covering the large area between Whitby and Redcar, while there are alleged threats to the future of an ambulance covering Carlin How.

John Darley, director of patient services for Tenyas, accepted that staff shortages had resulted in fewer ambulance crews being available for duty on several occasions, but said every effort was being made to provide adequate cover.

He said: "In periods of high demand, the York control room acts as an overflow for calls in Teesside and vice-versa.

"Understandably, it takes time to bed-in a new system, but since its implementation there have been no recorded incidents regarding the misdirection of an emergency response that has resulted in the death of any patient."

Mr Darley said managers who responded to 999 calls in specially-equipped Ford Focus cars could provide immediate life-saving skills before the arrival of an ambulance.

A spokesman for Tenyas said that the call-handling system had been brought in to reduce the risk to patients, and all ambulances were now fitted with satellite navigation.

This year, Tenyas was awarded two stars in the annual NHS star ratings awards, one more than the previous year.