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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls public "scaremongering" regarding the current flu outbreak, as its members vote on whether to carry out scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Response to Government Worries

This comes after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "deeply concerned" about the potential "one-two punch" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked that while the union was not "minimizing" the effect of flu, Mr. Streeting "ought not to 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 noted.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

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

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

However, the deal omits a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has stated that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Appeals for Focus on a Solution

In a statement, 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 contacted 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 "uphold safe patient care."

Political Response and Flu Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to push the strike back to January.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" 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. An average of 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the greatest for this time of year since records began 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 rising numbers, 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 union stated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a second ballot would be held on resolving the dispute for good.