🔗 Share this article

The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" concerning the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members vote on whether to carry out scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Response to Government Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the looming "combined impact" of rising numbers 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 "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 declared.

Strike Vote and Potential Timeline

The decision of a union vote is scheduled for Monday. If the offer is turned down, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers argues its offer includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to subsidize professional development costs.

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

Appeals for Focus on a Solution

In a release, 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 contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "probably 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.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" 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 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 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 "under control" of what the NHS could cope with and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

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