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The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised an alarm against what it calls public "fearmongering" regarding the current influenza outbreak, as its members vote on whether to carry out planned strikes in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the looming "double whammy" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

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

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

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Schedule

The decision of a BMA ballot is scheduled for Monday. If the offer is turned down, a industrial action lasting five days will start on Wednesday.

The government says its proposal includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize professional development costs.

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

Calls for Attention on a Solution

In a statement, the BMA urged the health secretary to "focus his time and attention 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 written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Political Response and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned 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 "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials 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 greatest for this time of year since records began in 2021.

However, these records start from 2021 and so do not include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the rising numbers, the senior doctor 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 BMA stated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to avert Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute completely.