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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls public "scaremongering" regarding the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members vote on whether to carry out planned strikes in England the coming week.

Union Response to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "combined impact" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "downplaying" the severity 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," correspondence from the union declared.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Schedule

The result of a BMA ballot is due on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a five-day strike will start on Wednesday.

The government says its offer includes laws that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to cover the costs professional development costs.

However, the deal does not include a salary increase. The Prime Minister has written that pay for resident doctors has risen by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus 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 union has also notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Political Response and Flu Data

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 taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action 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 vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, experts note it has come early 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.

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 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 said 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 detailed vote would be held on resolving the dispute completely.