🔗 Share this article

The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" concerning the current influenza outbreak, while its members vote on whether to carry out planned strikes in England next week.

BMA Reaction to Ministerial Worries

This comes after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "combined impact" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said 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," correspondence from the union declared.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Schedule

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a five-day strike will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers says its deal includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize training expenses.

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

Appeals for Focus on a Deal

In a statement, the BMA appealed to 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 contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Political 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 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 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 greatest for this time of year since records began in 2021.

It is important to note, 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 medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could cope with and that hospitals were more ready 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 second ballot would be held on resolving the dispute for good.