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The leading doctors' union has raised an alarm against what it calls widespread "fearmongering" regarding the ongoing influenza outbreak, as its members vote on if they should proceed with planned strikes in England next week.

Union Reaction to Government Concerns

This statement arrives after the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, expressed "extremely worried" about the looming "combined impact" of soaring counts of flu patients in hospitals and the approaching junior doctor strikes.

The head of the BMA's resident doctors' group, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that while the union was not "minimizing" the impact of flu, Mr. Streeting "should not 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 declared.

Industrial Action Ballot and Potential Timeline

The outcome of a union vote is expected on Monday. If the offer is turned down, a week-long walkout will start on Wednesday.

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

But, the deal omits a pay rise. Sir Keir Starmer 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 statement, 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 union has also written to chief executives of NHS Trusts in England, recognizing that, in the event of a strike, resident doctors may be called in to work to "ensure safe patient care."

Political Reaction and Influenza Data

Speaking to media, Mr. Streeting said the current situation 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.

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

Regarding the flu outbreak, health officials note it has come early this winter. An average of 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week – the highest 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.

Despite the rising numbers, the medical director for the NHS in London said the flu situation was "under control" of what the NHS could handle 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 avert Wednesday's strikes. If members vote in favor, a detailed vote would be held on ending the dispute completely.