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The British Medical Association (BMA) has sounded a caution against what it calls public "fearmongering" concerning the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members consider the possibility of impending walkouts in England next week.

Union Reaction to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the potential "double whammy" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

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

The result of a members' referendum is due on Monday. Should members vote no, a industrial action lasting five days will start on Wednesday.

The government says its deal includes laws that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to subsidize professional development costs.

But, the deal omits a pay rise. Sir Keir Starmer has commented that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Solution

In a announcement, 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 written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, indicating that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

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 taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action 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 vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Regarding the flu outbreak, experts note it has arrived sooner than usual 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 since records began in 2021.

However, these records start from 2021 and so do not include the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

Despite the rising numbers, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "well within the boundaries" of what the NHS could handle 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 avert Wednesday's strikes. Should members agree, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute entirely.