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The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised an alarm against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" about the current influenza outbreak, while its members consider whether to carry out impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Reaction to Ministerial Worries

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "double whammy" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming resident doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" the severity of flu, Mr. Streeting "must avoid 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.

Industrial Action Vote and Potential Schedule

The decision of a BMA ballot is scheduled for Monday. If the offer is turned down, a five-day strike will begin on Wednesday.

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

But, the deal does not include a pay rise. The Prime Minister has stated that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA urged 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 BMA has also written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Response and Flu Data

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious moment since the pandemic."

Regarding the flu outbreak, experts note it has come early this winter. Approximately 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest for this time of year on record in 2021.

It is important to note, these records only date back to 2021 and so do not capture the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

Despite the increasing figures, 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 more ready 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 cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute for good.