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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" regarding the current flu outbreak, while its members decide on whether to carry out impending walkouts in England next week.

BMA Response to Ministerial Worries

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "double whammy" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked that while the union was not "downplaying" 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," correspondence from the union noted.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is scheduled for Monday. Should members vote no, a five-day strike will commence on Wednesday.

Ministers states its proposal includes legislation that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs training expenses.

But, the deal excludes a wage hike. Sir Keir Starmer has written that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA appealed to 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 BMA has also notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Political Response and Flu Data

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

Regarding the flu outbreak, health officials 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 highest 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.

Despite the increasing figures, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute for good.