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The British Medical Association (BMA) has sounded a caution against what it calls widespread "alarmist rhetoric" about the present influenza outbreak, while its members decide on if they should proceed with impending walkouts in England next week.

Union Reaction to Ministerial Worries

This comes after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "deeply concerned" about the looming "one-two punch" of soaring counts 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 "minimizing" 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 declared.

Strike Ballot and Possible Schedule

The outcome of a BMA ballot is due on Monday. If it is rejected, a week-long walkout will begin on Wednesday.

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

But, the deal does not include 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 Focus on a Solution

In a release, the BMA appealed to 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 BMA has also written to 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

In an interview with 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.

Mirroring the health secretary, the prime minister said the "irresponsible" 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. Around 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.

Despite 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 cope with 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 sufficient to cancel Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute for good.