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The leading doctors' union has raised an alarm against what it calls public "scaremongering" about the present flu outbreak, as its members decide on if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England next week.

BMA Response to Government Worries

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "deeply concerned" about the looming "one-two punch" 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, 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," a letter from the union stated.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

The result of a union vote is expected on Monday. If it is rejected, a industrial action lasting five days will begin on Wednesday.

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

But, the deal omits 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 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 BMA has also notified chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be asked to come back to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Government Reaction 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 questioned why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to reschedule the industrial action 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 precarious 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 only date back to 2021 and so do not capture the two worst flu seasons of the past 15 years.

In spite of the increasing figures, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members indicate yes, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute for good.