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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" about the current flu outbreak, as its members vote on the possibility of impending walkouts in England next week.

BMA Response to Ministerial Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, stated he was "deeply concerned" about the looming "double whammy" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "diminishing" 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," correspondence from the union stated.

Strike Ballot and Potential Schedule

The result of a members' referendum is due on Monday. If it is rejected, a five-day strike will commence on Wednesday.

The government argues its offer includes laws that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to subsidize exam fees.

However, the deal does not include a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has commented 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, saying that, in the event of 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 present circumstances was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to push the strike back 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, experts note it has arrived sooner than usual this winter. Around 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 only date back to 2021 and so do not capture 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 "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 enough to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members indicate yes, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute for good.