🔗 Share this article

The British Medical Association (BMA) has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" about the present flu outbreak, as its members consider if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This comes after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "double whammy" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked that while the union was not "minimizing" the effect 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 noted.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Timeline

The outcome of a BMA ballot is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, a industrial action lasting five days will start on Wednesday.

The government argues its offer includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to cover the costs training expenses.

Yet, the deal omits a wage hike. The Prime Minister has written that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA appealed to the health secretary to "devote his efforts 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, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Influenza Statistics

In an interview with 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.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials note it has arrived sooner than usual this winter. Approximately 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest 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 handle and that hospitals were more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA stated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute completely.