Poor Richard Beeken, I feel for him, being so angry and upset by Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable's suggestion that people such as himself should reapply for their own jobs and take pay and conditions cuts.

He is clearly more honourable than many senior primary care trust officers who expect their staff to reapply for their own jobs and, having had to take a lower grade job, only have their existing pay and conditions guaranteed for a limited time, all in the name of restructuring.

Dr Jennifer Gosling, research fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine