A ‘BANK holiday level service’ will be operating at Salisbury District Hospital during a walkout by junior doctors.

Three days of strike action by junior doctors got underway this morning, with the walkout set to run until Wednesday, as a dispute over pay and conditions continues.

At Salisbury hospital, bosses said the ‘focus’ would be on maintaining ‘safe and compassionate patient care’.

“Our Accident & Emergency Department will be fully functional and we will have safe staffing levels for all inpatients,” a spokesperson said.

“However, many of our outpatient clinics and planned surgery may be unable to go ahead as planned.

“Patients impacted will be contacted directly by the hospital. If you are not contacted directly we would ask you to attend as planned.”

They said the hospital was ‘working to ensure our wards are safely staffed and that critical services are maintained’.

“We will have safe staffing levels for all inpatients,” they added.

“If you need to visit A&E please do so, and our Maternity Team will continue to safely deliver babies as they do 24 hours a day.

“We ask that anyone with a minor injury or illness to please seek advice from their GP, Salisbury Walk-In Centre or a local pharmacist, or visit 111.nhs.uk.

“If you do need to attend the hospital during the three days of industrial action to please be aware that staff will be stretched, so please be prepared to wait a little longer or have appointments delayed.”