PARENTS have been given a week’s notice to make alternative childcare arrangements after Salisbury District Hospital slashed a third of its nursery places.

Last Friday, bosses told hospital staff using the Toybox Day Nursery that it was “really sorry” but their child would no longer have a place from Monday.

In an email to parents, director of human resources Alison Kingscott said the nursery was struggling to maintain staffing levels and had no choice but to slash its numbers.

Some parents were told their child could still attend the nursery but with reduced hours, while others were told they had lost their place completely.

Ms Kingscott wrote to one family: “In order to maintain required staffing ratios and keep the nursery open we have now had to make the difficult decision to reduce the number of places we can offer and unfortunately we will not be able to provide nursery care for your child/children from Monday, December 5.

“We appreciate the impact this will have on a number of families and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and difficulties this may cause.”

Ms Kingscott said there might be options for childcare for a limited number of children on specific days, between 8am and 4pm, and that Wiltshire Council’s Early Years Team’s helpline had been briefed to provide parents with information about alternative childcare in the area.

A spokesman for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said the issue had arisen after high levels of sickness absence from nursery staff, and an inability to recruit to some vacant childcare posts.

He said it had been a “difficult decision” to reduce the hours, adding that the nursery’s main priority was to “continue to provide the best quality of care that it can for children, and consistently provide a good level of service”.

“The trust has taken all steps that it can to avoid reducing capacity within the nursery.”

It follows the news that the trust is seeking a private company to run the nursery, after Ofsted temporarily suspended its registration in June over safeguarding concerns.

The inspector’s report said staff lacked “sufficient understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children”, potentially putting children at risk of harm.