I WAS glad to serve the residents of the city as chair of Health OSC (Letters, November 17).

This let me use my 40 years experience working as a patient/public advocate in the voluntary and NHS sectors to ensure we had informed scrutiny of the issues facing the council and the NHS.

Health OSC has specifically not to be political and I tried to make sure the focus of our work was to assure ourselves that all residents received safe and appropriate health and social care.

Health OSC does not have a remit to look at services provided by the council’s children’s services, so it was not appropriate at the last meeting for attempts to be made to discuss the move of Castlegate services to West Offices.

This had already been called in by scrutiny group for consideration.

Health OSC Meetings are available on the website for residents to watch – one of many things done over the past four years to make this an open and accountable council.

I will continue to do all I can as vice-chairman to ensure we focus on the challenges facing the council and the NHS. Residents deserve better than petty political point-scoring.

Cllr Christina Funnell, Heworth Ward, Upper Price Street, York.