Health Secretary Pleads with Doctors to Cancel Strike as Flu Crisis Peaks

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has issued an urgent plea to resident doctors to call off their planned five-day strike, warning that the NHS is facing its 'worst ever winter crisis.' With a severe flu outbreak sweeping across the country, hospital bosses fear that industrial action next week could cause the health service to collapse under the pressure.

Hospitals in England are currently dealing with a sharp rise in flu cases. New data from NHS England shows that the number of people in hospital with flu jumped by 55% in just one week. On average, 2,660 patients were occupying hospital beds every day last week because of the virus. This is the highest number ever recorded for the first week of December.

Medical experts are calling this outbreak a 'super flu' because the current strain, known as H3N2, is making people very ill. It often affects older people more severely than other types of flu. Professor Meghana Pandit, a top medical director for the NHS, said the situation is 'extremely challenging' and that the number of cases is still rising with no peak in sight yet.

Strike Threatens Patient Safety

The British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union for doctors, has organised a strike for resident doctors (formerly known as junior doctors) to begin on Wednesday, 17 December. They plan to stop working for five days in a dispute over pay and training. NHS leaders are very worried because the strike will happen just as the flu crisis is getting worse.

Wes Streeting has described the planned strike as 'reckless' and warned it could be the 'Jenga piece' that causes the NHS to fall apart this winter. He said that hospitals are already full and staff are working as hard as they can. The Health Secretary has asked doctors to accept a new offer from the government, which includes changes to training posts but does not offer extra pay for this year.

Impact on Emergency Care

The pressure on the NHS is already affecting patients. Emergency departments are seeing record numbers of people, and ambulances are struggling to hand over patients to hospital staff quickly. Several hospital trusts have declared 'critical incidents,' which means they are finding it very difficult to provide safe care due to the high number of patients.

The government is hoping that the BMA will cancel the strike after their members vote on the new offer. The voting is taking place online and will finish on Monday, 15 December. If the doctors agree to the offer or decide to pause their action, the strike next week could be called off, giving hospitals a better chance to cope with the flu surge.

Urgent Call for Vaccination

Health officials are also urging the public to help by getting vaccinated against the flu. Recent figures show that fewer people than expected have had their flu jab this winter. Only about 37% of people under 65 with health conditions have been vaccinated. Doctors say that getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and help the NHS during this difficult time.