Starmer Warns Doctor Strike During Flu Outbreak Is ‘Reckless’
Keir Starmer warns a doctor strike during the NHS flu outbreak could put patients at risk, as resident doctors vote on industrial action.
Sir Keir Starmer has urged junior doctors not to go ahead with "reckless" strikes planned for next week, saying it would be "beyond belief" for them to do so during a flu outbreak.
The Labour leader said the NHS is in its "most precarious position" since the coronavirus pandemic due to soaring flu cases across the UK, and that the strikes would put the healthcare system and its patients at "grave risk".
The doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), is balloting its members on whether they are willing to call off the strike, with the results due on Monday.
But if they vote against it, a five-day strike by junior doctors will begin two days later on Wednesday, December 17.
A BMA spokesperson said the government could avert the strike by making a credible offer on pay, terms and conditions.
Experts say flu has arrived early this winter, and it appears to be a particularly bad season as a new mutated version of the virus is circulating.
Many people are now calling it "super flu," but it is neither more severe nor more difficult to treat.
NHS England said that last week an average of 2,660 patients a day were in hospital in England with flu – the highest figure for this time of year on record and a 55% increase on the previous week.
Figures show that flu cases are also rising in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Health officials said children and young people are being particularly affected by this outbreak.
Writing in The Guardian, Sir Keir said the strikes "should not happen" and urged junior doctors to accept a deal to avoid industrial action. Sir Keir said that in addition to the government's new offer, he had also given the BMA the opportunity to reschedule the strikes until after Christmas.
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He said: "Don't misunderstand me – of course I want them cancelled... but in these circumstances, I wanted to make sure we left no stone unturned in our efforts to protect the NHS."
The BMA said it would ask its members whether the government's offer was sufficient to call off Wednesday's strikes. If members agree, they will be given time to consider the offer in more detail, and a formal follow-up referendum will be held to resolve the dispute completely.
The offer aims to address the concerns of some doctors seeking employment and to provide more training places for newly qualified medics to progress in their careers.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting intervened on Friday, echoing Sir Keir's concerns and warning that the strikes and rising flu cases would be a "double whammy" for the NHS.
However, Chris Streather, the NHS medical director for London, said the flu situation was "well within" the NHS's capacity to manage and that hospitals were better prepared for outbreaks of serious illnesses since the Covid pandemic.
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