🔗 Share this article

The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls public "fearmongering" concerning the current flu outbreak, while its members vote on if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "very anxious" about the potential "double whammy" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming junior 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."

"In our role as physicians, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," a letter from the union noted.

Industrial Action Ballot and Possible Schedule

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

Ministers says its deal includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to pay for training expenses.

Yet, the deal does not include a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has commented that pay for resident doctors has risen by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA called on 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 union has also contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

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

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most vulnerable 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 since records began 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.

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

The BMA stated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute entirely.