Cheltenham General Hospital’s Accident and Emergency will temporarily close from Friday, April 28 (8pm) until Tuesday May 2 (8am) due to The Royal College of Nursing’s call for strikes.
The Royal College of Nursing are striking over pay and work conditions.
Disruption to other Community Minor Injury and Illness units and planned care appointments also expected during this period.
However, the Gloucester A&E emergency care services will remain open.
NHS leaders strongly urge local people to only access Gloucester A&E or 999 if their condition is life threatening or very serious and to use 111 to get advice on the right care for them.
The industrial action will pose substantial challenges to patient care as the NHS will have to significantly reduce other services to enable them to redeploy available staff.
Patients who have a planned hospital operation, outpatient clinic or procedure over the bank holiday weekend should attend their appointments unless they hear from their NHS Trust to advise otherwise.
However, the urgent need to ensure safe staffing arrangements in emergency care means many patients will be contacted to rearrange their appointments to a later date.
There will be no disruption to patient visiting arrangements during the strike but NHS Trusts have asked relatives and carers to work with staff to get their loved ones home from hospital as quickly and as safely as possible.
Chief medical officer at NHS Gloucestershire Dr Andy Seymour said: “As we head to into the Bank Holiday and the period of industrial action, it is critical that local people continue to follow essential advice about services.
“The days ahead will bring substantial challenges to the local NHS and we are sorry that many patients will experience disruption to services.
“One Gloucestershire health and care partners are working closely together to ensure those in greatest need continue to have access to high quality care and support during an incredibly busy period.
“We cannot emphasise enough how important it will be to keep A&E at Gloucester clear for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”
To find out more information about the strikes click here.
