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The leading doctors' union has raised an alarm against what it calls public "scaremongering" about the current influenza outbreak, as its members consider whether to carry out scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Reaction to Ministerial Concerns

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

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "diminishing" the severity 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 Potential Schedule

The outcome of a members' referendum is due on Monday. Should members vote no, a week-long walkout will commence on Wednesday.

Ministers states its offer includes laws that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to pay for exam fees.

But, the deal omits a salary increase. The Prime Minister 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 announcement, the BMA appealed to 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 written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Political 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 asked why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to push the strike back 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."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials note it has arrived sooner than usual this winter. Around 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 only date back to 2021 and so do not include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the increasing figures, 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 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. Should members vote in favor, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute completely.