AMBULANCE service chiefs are warning the public of important changes in the way 999 calls are handled.

From April, the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas) will no longer have to send emergency ambulances to all 999 calls.

"Category C" calls about minor ailments, such as cut fingers or earaches, will be transferred to medical staff known as clinical telephone advisors.

They will assess the best options for patients, which could include giving advice over the phone.

Callers with minor conditions may also be advised to call the NHS Direct health advice line.

They could be told to contact a GP, a district nurse or trained community nurses who can travel to see people.

Alternatively, they could be told to make their way to a minor injury unit or a hospital's accident and emergency department.

Under certain circumstances, it might be possible to send an ambulance if there is a clinical need, but without blue lights and siren.

Patients with minor complaints could also be advised to see a pharmacist.

Tenyas chief executive Jayne Barnes said: "Not only will it enable us to focus our resources on calls which we know are life-threatening, we will also be able to offer a more appropriate response to patients with minor conditions.

"This removes the dangerous situation where we may have an ambulance running with blue lights and sirens to a patient with earache.

"From April, that ambulance will be freed to reach a patient who needs it quickly."

Tenyas medical director Irving Cobden said he wanted to reassure the public the system would provide safeguards for patients whose conditions deteriorated or were more serious than first thought.

He said: "At the end of the day, we will always have the capability to send an ambulance when needed."