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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" about the present influenza outbreak, as its members decide on whether to carry out scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Response to Ministerial Concerns

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the looming "combined impact" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" the effect of flu, Mr. Streeting "must avoid 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 stated.

Strike Vote and Possible Schedule

The outcome of a members' referendum is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, a five-day strike will commence on Wednesday.

The government argues its deal includes legislation that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to pay for professional development costs.

But, the deal omits a pay rise. The Prime Minister has stated that pay for resident doctors has risen 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 "concentrate 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 written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Flu Statistics

Speaking to 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 taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

Mirroring 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."

Regarding the flu outbreak, experts note it has come early this winter. Approximately 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.

However, these records start from 2021 and so do not capture 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 "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were more ready 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 avert Wednesday's strikes. Should members vote in favor, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute entirely.