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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" about the current influenza outbreak, as its members vote on the possibility of scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Response to Government Worries

This statement arrives after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the looming "double whammy" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked 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 noted.

Industrial Action Ballot and Possible Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is scheduled for Monday. Should members vote no, a week-long walkout will commence on Wednesday.

The government states its offer includes laws that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize professional development costs.

However, the deal does not include a wage hike. Sir Keir Starmer 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 release, 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 BMA has also written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Political Response and Flu Statistics

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to push the strike back to January.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" strikes "ought not to go ahead" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious moment since the pandemic."

Regarding the flu outbreak, health officials note it has come early this winter. Around 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.

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 senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "well within the boundaries" 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 enough to call off Wednesday's strikes. Should members vote in favor, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute completely.