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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" concerning the ongoing influenza outbreak, while its members decide on if they should proceed with scheduled industrial action in England the coming week.

BMA Reaction to Government Concerns

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "very anxious" about the potential "one-two punch" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming resident doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" 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 Possible Timeline

The result of a members' referendum is scheduled for Monday. If the offer is turned down, a week-long walkout will start on Wednesday.

Ministers argues its offer includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to subsidize training expenses.

Yet, the deal omits a wage hike. The Prime Minister has commented that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Solution

In a announcement, the BMA appealed to the health secretary to "devote his efforts 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, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Political Response and Influenza Data

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 reschedule the industrial action to January.

Repeating 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 on record in 2021.

It is important to note, these records start from 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 "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were more ready for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members indicate yes, a detailed vote would be held on resolving the dispute entirely.