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The leading doctors' union has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "alarmist rhetoric" concerning the present influenza outbreak, as its members decide on whether to carry out impending walkouts in England the coming week.

BMA Reaction to Government Worries

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

BMA resident doctors committee chair, Dr Jack Fletcher, remarked 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."

"As doctors, we at the BMA wish to ensure that patients remain safe," a letter from the union stated.

Industrial Action Vote and Potential Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a industrial action lasting five days will start on Wednesday.

The government states its proposal includes measures that gives preference to British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to cover the costs professional development costs.

However, the deal does not include a salary increase. Sir Keir Starmer has commented that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Calls for Attention on a Solution

In a announcement, the BMA urged the health secretary to "devote his efforts 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, indicating that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be required to return to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the present circumstances was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He asked why the BMA hadn't accepted an offer to push the strike back to January.

Echoing the health secretary, the prime minister said the "reckless" strikes "ought not to go ahead" while the NHS is facing its "most vulnerable moment since the pandemic."

Concerning the flu outbreak, health officials 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 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 increasing figures, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "well within the boundaries" of what the NHS could manage and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The BMA said it will ask its members whether the government's latest offer will be sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. Should members vote in favor, a formal follow-up referendum would be held on ending the dispute entirely.