🔗 Share this article

The leading doctors' union has raised an alarm against what it calls public "fearmongering" regarding the present influenza outbreak, as its members vote on the possibility of scheduled industrial action in England the coming week.

Union Reaction to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the looming "one-two punch" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

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

Strike Ballot and Potential Schedule

The result of a union vote is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, a five-day strike will start on Wednesday.

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

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

Appeals for Focus on a Deal

In a statement, 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 union has also written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Political Reaction and Flu Data

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "probably 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.

Mirroring 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."

Concerning 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 include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the rising numbers, the senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute entirely.