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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls public "scaremongering" concerning the current influenza outbreak, while its members vote on whether to carry out impending walkouts in England next week.

Union Response to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "extremely worried" about the potential "combined impact" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching resident doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, stated that while the union was not "minimizing" the severity 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," a letter from the union declared.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Schedule

The outcome of a union vote is scheduled for Monday. Should members vote no, a industrial action lasting five days will commence on Wednesday.

The government states its proposal includes laws that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs exam fees.

Yet, the deal excludes a salary increase. The Prime Minister has stated that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA urged 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 BMA 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."

Government Response and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned 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 precarious moment since the pandemic."

Regarding the flu outbreak, experts 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 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.

Despite the increasing figures, 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 better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to avert Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a detailed vote would be held on resolving the dispute for good.