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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls widespread "scaremongering" regarding the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members decide on whether to carry out impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Response to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "extremely worried" about the potential "double whammy" of rising numbers 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 "downplaying" the severity of flu, Mr. Streeting "must avoid 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 Potential Schedule

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

Ministers argues its deal includes legislation that gives preference to British medical graduates for specialty training jobs starting next year and offers to cover the costs exam fees.

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

Appeals for Attention on a Deal

In a announcement, the BMA urged 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 BMA 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 "uphold safe patient care."

Government Reaction and Influenza Statistics

In an interview with media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "probably 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 "reckless" strikes "should not happen" while the NHS is facing its "most precarious moment since the pandemic."

Regarding the flu outbreak, health officials note it has arrived sooner than usual this winter. Approximately 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 capture 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 union said it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a second ballot would be held on resolving the dispute completely.