🔗 Share this article

The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised an alarm against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" concerning the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members vote on whether to carry out impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Ministerial Concerns

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "double whammy" of rising numbers of flu patients in hospitals and the upcoming junior doctor strikes.

BMA resident doctors committee chair, 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 declared.

Strike Vote and Possible Schedule

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

The government argues its deal includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to pay for exam fees.

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

Appeals for Focus on a Solution

In a statement, the BMA called on 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, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "uphold safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Statistics

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 accepted an offer to reschedule the industrial action to January.

Repeating the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious 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.

However, these records only date back to 2021 and so do not include 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 "within manageable limits" of what the NHS could handle and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA indicated it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be enough to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members agree, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute completely.