HAVING been raised in Richmondshire, I now study medicine in the North-East and I am writing with regards to the current junior doctor contract negotiations.

Morale on the wards is at an all-time low as doctors feel they have little option but to take industrial action, yet they feel they are vilified in the press for doing so.

This is not about automatic pay rises (which have largely been discontinued across the public sector), this is about a contract that unfairly targets doctors with young families and those working in (already understaffed) acute specialties. It is a short-sighted contract that offers hospitals more leeway to stretch doctors to breaking point and, importantly, it is a contract that will be used to set a precedent to other healthcare workers as “efficiency savings” are rolled out.

During the strikes, patients requiring non-elective care would not have experienced a reduction in the quality of care as more experienced consultants went out of their way to overcome the staff shortages.

Doctors have friends and family who are patients, too, and would simply not go ahead with such action were it to be dangerous.

Our hands are tied and I’m writing to urge the public to stay on side. I would also ask my home MP, Rishi Sunak, to motivate his colleagues to come back to the negotiating table. An imposed contract will help no one.

Kieran Watt, Richmond