🔗 Share this article

The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "alarmist rhetoric" concerning the present influenza outbreak, as its members consider the possibility of planned strikes in England the coming week.

Union Response to Ministerial Concerns

This comes after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the looming "combined impact" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "diminishing" 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 Possible Schedule

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a week-long walkout will start on Wednesday.

The government states its proposal includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize training expenses.

However, the deal excludes a wage hike. Sir Keir Starmer has written that pay for resident doctors has risen by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls 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 notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to reschedule the industrial action 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 vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials note it has come early this winter. Approximately 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest for this time of year since records began in 2021.

However, these records only date back to 2021 and so do not capture 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 BMA said it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute for good.