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The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" concerning the current flu outbreak, as its members decide on whether to carry out planned strikes in England next week.

BMA Reaction to Government Concerns

This follows after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated he was "deeply concerned" about the looming "combined impact" of increasing figures of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" 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 declared.

Industrial Action Vote and Possible Timeline

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

Ministers states its deal includes legislation that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to cover the costs training expenses.

However, the deal does not include a wage hike. Sir Keir Starmer has written that pay for resident doctors has increased by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Focus on a Deal

In a release, the BMA called on the health secretary to "focus his time and attention 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."

Political Response and Flu Data

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked 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 "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most challenging 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 highest 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.

In spite of 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 union indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to cancel Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute entirely.