In a letter to the local media, Lib Dem Cllr Chris Cullwick (pictured) outlined why he backed strike action by junior doctors last week.

Dear Editor,

As a local Liberal Democrat councillor, I would like to add my voice in support of the junior doctors who went on strike last week.

The issue from start to finish has been poorly handled by the health secretary.

Despite the warnings, Jeremy Hunt has pushed on with a flawed policy which asks NHS staff and services to deliver more, without giving them the funding they need.

This policy has resulted in a contract offer being made to junior doctors which 98 per cent of them think is unsafe and unfair. As one doctor told your paper it will “risk my patients’ health and my own health”.

The policy includes a number of worrying clauses, such as removing the requirement for hospitals to monitor the hours doctors work and detrimentally changing both the shift patterns and pay arrangements of junior doctors.

In all this we should remember that junior doctors get a basic salary (after five years’ training) of £22,636. There is already a national shortage of 6,000 junior doctors and the latest dispute will surely only make this worse as morale is further eroded.

The accusation has long been made of a Conservative plan to dismantle the NHS. Watching last week’s events unfold it is becoming harder and harder to disagree with that conclusion.

Cllr Chris Cullwick (Huntington and New Earswick Ward)