A NATIONAL news programme selected Salisbury to highlight how a hospital outside of London is coping with Covid-19.

Salisbury District Hospital featured in a ten-minute clip on BBC Two's Newsnight, following three members of NHS staff around the site and learning how they have adapted to work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Aired on Monday night, the show also highlighted changes to the hospital and celebrated the hard work of the NHS, with presenter Emily Maitlis commending staff for "extraordinary work around the clock".

In the feature Newsnight journalist Mark Urban spoke to secretary apprentice Imogen Blake, senior nurse and matron for medicine, Helen Benfield, and intensive care consultant, Doctor Duncan Murray.

Imogen only joined the hospital two months ago as an apprentice, but had been redeployed to the personal protective equipment (PPE) team to help distribute vital kit to wards and staff across the site.

She described her time on Newsnight as "exciting", adding: "I feel really proud that I had the chance to represent the hospital.

"I feel really useful on the front line, I know I am helping make a difference. It has been an interesting learning experience so far."

The 18-year-old added: "It is very busy at the moment and obviously there's evidence of that, we're taking calls all the time, and making sure staff have everything they need, but it has been so enjoyable and I feel I'm doing my bit."

A Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson added: "[Newsnight] wanted somewhere that wasn't London, and we were already on the map and had spoken to Mark Urban before, because of Novichok.

"The work of the hospital has come across brilliantly - the staff's level of commitment during this time, and their resilience to carry on, change working patterns and upscale to fit what is needed of them in the hospital.

"The feature shows that patients are at the centre of what we're doing, no matter what the situation is."