Nursing staff at Salisbury District Hospital are among those participating in industrial action.

The Royal College of Nursing announced the strike dates of Wednesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 19 with further strikes planned for Monday, February 6 and February 7.

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Stacey Hunter released a video-recorded statement on Tuesday, January 17 assuring residents that essential services would remain available.

She said: “I want to also reassure people that our emergency services, so things like our accident and emergency unit (A&E) and our acute services, will be running as normal and we worked really closely with the Royal College of Nursing to ensure that we can have minimum levels of staff available that day despite the strike action, to keep you safe.”

Stacey asked for residents to remain patient during strike action while available staff may be minimal.

She said: “It may be that you have to wait slightly longer for your appointment or slightly longer in our accident and emergency department, but please know that the services will be safe and that our staff will be working really hard to ensure that you get the things you need.”