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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" about the ongoing flu outbreak, while its members consider if they should proceed with scheduled industrial action in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the looming "combined impact" of increasing figures 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 "downplaying" the impact 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 stated.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

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

Ministers argues its offer includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to pay for training expenses.

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

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a statement, the BMA appealed to 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 BMA has also contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response and Flu Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most challenging moment since the pandemic."

Regarding 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.

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.

Despite the rising numbers, the senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "well within the boundaries" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union said it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute completely.