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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" regarding the ongoing flu outbreak, as its members consider the possibility of planned strikes in England the coming week.

Union Response to Government Worries

This comes after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the potential "one-two punch" 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, stated that while the union was not "minimizing" 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 Ballot and Potential Timeline

The result of a members' referendum is scheduled for Monday. Should members vote no, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

The government states its deal includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs professional development costs.

However, the deal does not include a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has commented that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Appeals for Attention on a Deal

In a statement, the BMA called on 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 notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Political Response and Influenza Statistics

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

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

Regarding 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 greatest for this time of year on record in 2021.

However, 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 senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could cope with and that hospitals were more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute for good.