EPASir Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors not to go ahead with “reckless” strikes planned for next week, saying it is “unbelievable” they could take place during a flu outbreak.
The Prime Minister said the NHS was at its “most precarious moment” since the coronavirus pandemic due to rising flu cases across the UK, and strikes would put the health system and its patients in “grave danger”.
The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), is polling its members to see if they are willing to call off the strike, with the results due to be published on Monday.
But if they vote against, a five-day strike by resident doctors It will begin two days later, on Wednesday, December 17.
A BMA spokesperson said the government could stop the strike by addressing pay, conditions and trust with a credible offer.
The flu arrived early this winter and looks to be a particularly unpleasant season because of a new mutated version of the virus that is circulating, experts say.
Many now call it the “super flu,” but it is no more serious or more difficult to treat.
An average of 2,660 patients a day were hospitalized with flu in England last week, the highest number ever recorded for this time of year and a 55% increase on the previous week, NHS England said.
Figures show flu cases are also increasing in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Children and young people are particularly affected by the outbreak, health officials said.
In an article in The Guardian, Sir Keir said strikes “should not happen” and that resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, should accept a deal to avoid a strike.
Sir Keir said that in addition to the Government’s new offer, they had also given the BMA the opportunity to reschedule the strikes until after Christmas.
“Don’t get me wrong, of course I would prefer they were cancelled… But given the circumstances, I wanted to be sure that we have left no stone unturned in our efforts to protect the NHS,” he said.
The BMA said it will ask its members whether the government’s offer will be enough to call off Wednesday’s strikes.
If members indicate yes, they will be given time to consider the offer in more detail and a follow-up formal referendum will be held to completely end the dispute.
The offer aims to address the problems of some doctors trying to find work and provide more training places for newly qualified doctors to progress their careers.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting made a similar intervention to Sir Keir on Friday, warning that strikes coupled with a rise in flu patients would be a “double whammy” for the NHS.
However, NHS London medical director Chris Streather said the flu situation was “well within the limits” of what the NHS could cope with and hospitals were better prepared for major disease outbreaks since the Covid pandemic.
