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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "alarmist rhetoric" regarding the current flu outbreak, as its members consider if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Ministerial Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the looming "combined impact" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "diminishing" 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."

"As doctors, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," correspondence from the union noted.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Timeline

The outcome of a members' referendum is due on Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will commence on Wednesday.

The government says its deal includes legislation that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize training expenses.

But, the deal omits a pay rise. The Prime Minister has written that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Solution

In a statement, the BMA urged 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 BMA has also contacted 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 Reaction and Influenza Statistics

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to push the strike back 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."

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 highest for this time of year on record in 2021.

It is important to note, these records start from 2021 and so do not include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of 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 more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members agree, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute entirely.