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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" regarding the current flu outbreak, as its members consider if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Reaction to Government Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "one-two punch" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching resident doctor strikes.

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

"In our role as physicians, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," a letter from the union stated.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

The decision of a BMA ballot is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will start on Wednesday.

Ministers states its proposal includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to subsidize professional development costs.

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

Appeals for Focus on a Solution

In a release, the BMA urged the health secretary to "devote his efforts 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, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Political Reaction and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to reschedule the industrial action 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 precarious moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, experts note it has arrived sooner than usual this winter. Around 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the greatest for this time of year on record in 2021.

It is important to note, these records only date back to 2021 and so do not include 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 "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could cope with 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 enough to avert Wednesday's strikes. Should members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute for good.