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The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised an alarm against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" about the current flu outbreak, as its members decide on if they should proceed with planned strikes in England the coming week.

Union Reaction to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the looming "combined impact" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked 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.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Timeline

The decision of a union vote is due on Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers says its proposal includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to subsidize exam fees.

However, the deal excludes a wage hike. 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 release, the BMA appealed to 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 contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Flu Statistics

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to push the strike back to January.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" 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 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.

It is important to note, 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 senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could cope with 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 avert Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on resolving the dispute for good.