As a doctor, I've seen my previously confident patients become afraid after Jeremy Hunt's scaremongering

The patients are behind our strike - but I've been sad to hear them vocalise their fears in the last few weeks

Junior doctors and supporters hold placards during a strike outside St Thomas' Hospital in London (Reuters)

Today will be remembered as a monumental day in the history of the NHS: junior doctors have been forced by the actions of a dictatorial health secretary to go to extreme actions to help protect the future of patient safety. Across the country, junior doctors have left work to join picket lines, exempting themselves from elective and emergency work, in the hope of persuading Jeremy Hunt to reopen negotiations.

Finishing a night shift this morning, I was humbled and touched to see how many consultants we had working on the front line. A&E was full of seniors admitting patients, actually seeming to enjoy doing the job that they once did. Nursing staff, theatre teams and porters were all vocalising their support.

Most importantly, the people who are behind us are the patients. I could not even begin to list the incredible support we have had from the public; this includes the many who have supported our pickets, but also the ones who have a kind word to say to us when they find out what job we do.

One of the most touching comments came from a patient who had emergency major life-saving surgery on a Bank Holiday weekend. This person admitted afterwards that they were deeply fearful for their safety due to some media portrayals of the junior doctors’ strike, but was thankful to find that we do actually deliver excellent and timely 24/7 emergency care.

Before the latest dispute, I rarely heard patients saying that they were fearful of weekend care. Time and time again, we are rated highly in international studies for our achievements in providing high quality, efficient, evidence-based care – but if you listened to Hunt and his fellow Tories’ scaremongering, you’d assume it was all casual, cack-handed work done on a shoestring.

There are many arguments against the contract, most of which you are probably already aware. It is unsafe because it proposes working patterns which will spread an already stretched service too thinly, and removes fiercely fought-for safeguards that protect our right to adequate rest. Tired doctors are not safe doctors.

Secondly, it is unfair, archaic and sexist, penalising women and undoing all the work on gender equality that was done before our time.

For anyone in any doubt about the recruitment and retention of trainees, I would advise reviewing the number of applicants applying for specialty training. I am aware of one region that was only able to fill 60 per cent of its advertised posts for an acute specialty. The damage to training has already begun.

The BMA is offering olive branches to Hunt, and if he chose to accept them, today’s action could have been prevented. Hunt says he will be judged by history – and none of us can argue with that.