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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls public "scaremongering" concerning the current influenza outbreak, while its members consider whether to carry out impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the looming "double whammy" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "minimizing" the impact of flu, Mr. Streeting "must avoid scaremongering the public into thinking that the NHS will not be able to look after them."

"As doctors, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," a letter from the union stated.

Industrial Action Ballot and Possible Schedule

The decision of a union vote is due on Monday. Should members vote no, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

The government argues its proposal includes legislation that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to pay for exam fees.

Yet, the deal omits a salary increase. The Prime Minister has written that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a release, the BMA urged the health secretary to "focus his time and attention on offering a deal that will stop next week's strikes going ahead, rather than making claims that strike action could cause the NHS to collapse."

The union has also notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to push the strike back to January.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" strikes "ought not to go ahead" while the NHS is facing its "most vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials note it has come early this winter. Approximately 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest for this time of year on record in 2021.

However, these records start from 2021 and so do not capture the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the increasing figures, the senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA said it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute entirely.