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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" about the present flu outbreak, as its members decide on the possibility of scheduled industrial action in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This statement arrives after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "one-two punch" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" the severity of flu, Mr. Streeting "should not 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 Vote and Possible Timeline

The outcome of a members' referendum is due on Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers states its offer includes laws that prioritises British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs professional development costs.

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

Appeals for Attention on a Solution

In a release, the BMA called on 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 union has also written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response 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.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most challenging 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 capture the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the increasing figures, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could handle and that hospitals were better prepared 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 avert Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a second ballot would be held on ending the dispute completely.