🔗 Share this article

The British Medical Association (BMA) has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "alarmist rhetoric" about the current influenza outbreak, as its members decide on if they should proceed with planned strikes in England next week.

Union Response to Ministerial Concerns

This follows after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "one-two punch" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked that while the union was not "downplaying" the effect of flu, Mr. Streeting "should not be scaremongering the public into thinking that the NHS will not be able to look after them."

"As doctors, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," correspondence from the union stated.

Industrial Action Vote and Potential Schedule

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will commence on Wednesday.

Ministers argues its offer includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs exam fees.

However, the deal excludes a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has written that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Solution

In a statement, 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, indicating that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Statistics

Speaking to 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.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" strikes "ought not to go ahead" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, experts note it has come early this winter. An average of 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the greatest for this time of year on record 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 "under control" 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 vote in favor, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute completely.