🔗 Share this article

The leading doctors' union has raised an alarm against what it calls public "scaremongering" about the current influenza outbreak, as its members decide on if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Reaction to Ministerial Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "one-two punch" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "diminishing" the effect of flu, Mr. Streeting "should not 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 stated.

Strike Ballot and Potential Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is due on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a five-day strike will begin on Wednesday.

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

Yet, the deal omits a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has written that pay for resident doctors has risen by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a announcement, 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 notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Influenza Statistics

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

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" 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. Approximately 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 capture 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 "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could handle and that hospitals were better prepared 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. If members vote in favor, a second ballot would be held on resolving the dispute completely.