Critics have attacked NHS service supplier Serco as providing an unsafe service due to a dramatic cutting policy driven by profits, with staff saying that they had received pressure to downgrade call assessments.

Serco and the PCT have strongly rejected the accusations, and the claims have now come under investigation by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission.

Managing director of acute and community services at Serco, Paul Forden, said: "There's a lot of politics going on there. We've investigated and there's nothing unsafe."