🔗 Share this article

The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised an alarm against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" concerning the present flu outbreak, while its members consider the possibility of scheduled industrial action in England the coming week.

Union Reaction to Ministerial Concerns

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the looming "one-two punch" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming resident doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "downplaying" the impact 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 declared.

Strike Vote and Possible Timeline

The outcome of a BMA ballot is scheduled for Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers says its deal includes laws that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize 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 Focus on a Deal

In a release, the BMA urged 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 called in to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Influenza Statistics

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 taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

Mirroring the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, experts note it has come early this winter. Approximately 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.

However, these records start from 2021 and so do not include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the rising numbers, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "well within the boundaries" of what the NHS could handle 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 sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a second ballot would be held on resolving the dispute entirely.