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The leading doctors' union has issued a warning against what it calls public "alarmist rhetoric" regarding the ongoing flu outbreak, while its members consider if they should proceed with scheduled industrial action in England next week.

Union Response to Ministerial Worries

This statement arrives after the Health Minister, Wes Streeting, expressed "very anxious" about the potential "combined impact" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the forthcoming resident doctor strikes.

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

"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 Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a five-day strike will begin on Wednesday.

Ministers says its deal includes measures that prioritises British medical graduates for training posts starting next year and offers to pay for professional development costs.

However, the deal omits a pay rise. The Prime Minister has written that pay for resident doctors has grown by 28.9% over the past three years.

Appeals for Attention on a Solution

In a release, the BMA appealed to 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 contacted chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, saying that, should there be a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "maintain safe patient care."

Government Response and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation was "perhaps the worst pressure the NHS has faced since Covid." He questioned why the BMA hadn't taken up an offer to push the strike back 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."

Concerning 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 highest 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.

Despite the increasing figures, the senior doctor for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could cope with and that hospitals were better prepared for large disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.

The union stated 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 ending the dispute entirely.