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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls public "fearmongering" regarding the current flu outbreak, while its members decide on whether to carry out scheduled industrial action in England next week.

BMA Response to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the looming "one-two punch" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, 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 stated.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Timeline

The result of a members' referendum is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, 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.

But, the deal omits a wage hike. Sir Keir Starmer has stated that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Appeals for Attention on a Deal

In a announcement, 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 union has also notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Political Reaction and Flu Statistics

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances 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.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" 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 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.

Despite the rising numbers, the senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could handle and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members agree, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute entirely.