DOCTORS’ STRIKES DURING FLU SURGE COULD KILL PATIENTS, SAYS STREETING
Doctors’ strikes during the surge in “superflu” could lead to patients dying, Wes Streeting has suggested.
The Health Secretary said that he could not rule out patients coming to “fatal harm” if resident doctors’ strikes go ahead.
Mr Streeting offered the British Medical Association (BMA) new terms earlier this week that would prioritise British medical graduates for training places over those from overseas.
The union has put his offer to members in a vote that closes on Monday, two days before the five-day strike is set to start.
Asked if the Health Secretary thought someone could die if the strikes went ahead, Mr Streeting told LBC: “I don’t want to catastrophise or sensationalise. I cannot sit here and look you in the eye and tell you that no patient will come to harm or fatal harm. I cannot make that guarantee.”
He added: “I urge doctors, please vote for this offer. End these strikes, and let’s try and start 2026 with a fresh start.
“I’m happy to hit the reset button in terms of my relationship and the Government’s relationship with the BMA. I hope that they’re willing to do the same. We could all do without this war of words.”
On Thursday, health chiefs said the winter flu crisis had plunged the NHS into a “worst-case scenario”.
NHS figures showed flu cases at a record level for the time of year after jumping 55 per cent in a week to an average 2,660 patients in hospital each day last week.
Mr Streeting warned the numbers could triple and described the scenes in hospital as “inexcusable”. He added that the flu had left the NHS facing a “challenge unlike any it has seen since the pandemic”.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, plan to strike from Dec 17 to 22 in a long-running dispute over pay.
“The whole NHS team is working around the clock to keep the show on the road,” Mr Streeting wrote in The Times. “But it’s an incredibly precarious situation.
“Christmas strikes could be the Jenga piece that collapses the tower. That’s why I am appealing directly to resident doctors to accept the Government’s offer.”
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He has urged resident doctors to refuse to strike because of the threat the flu poses to the NHS.
“I am appealing over their heads and directly to resident doctors,” Mr Streeting said. “In this season of goodwill, I’m asking them to call off the Christmas strikes and choose a fresh start. Bring an end to the dispute and begin a new era of partnership.”
The BMA has put his offer to members in a vote which closes on Monday, just two days before the five-day strike is set to start.
Hospital flu admissions have risen by more than 50 per cent in a week, with chemists running low on vaccines and schools shutting to combat outbreaks.
Across the country, almost 3,000 patients were in hospital beds with flu by the end of last week, a record for this point in the year.
In October, health chiefs warned that Britain may face the worst flu season on record. But four million children – more than half of those aged between two and 17 – remain unvaccinated.
Infection rates are highest among children aged five to 14, with rates three times those of older people. But the virus has far more serious consequences among older groups, fuelling the record hospital admissions.
On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said it would be “irresponsible” for the doctor strikes to go ahead.
2025-12-12T08:25:36Z
