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EPA<\/p>\nEPA<\/p>\n
Sir Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors not to go ahead with “reckless” strikes planned for next week, saying it is “beyond belief” they could take place during a flu outbreak.<\/p>\n
The prime minister said the NHS is in its “most precarious moment” since the coronavirus pandemic due to soaring flu cases across the UK, and that strikes would put the healthcare system and its patients in “grave danger”.<\/p>\n
The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), is polling its members to see if they are willing to call off the walkout, with the results to be released on Monday.<\/p>\n
But if they vote against it, a five-day strike by resident doctors will begin two days later on Wednesday 17 December. <\/p>\n
A BMA spokesperson said the government could stop the strike by tackling pay, conditions and trust with a credible offer.<\/p>\n
Flu has come early this winter, and it looks to be a particularly nasty season because of a new mutated version of the virus which is circulating, say experts. <\/p>\n
Many are now calling it “super flu”, but it is not more severe nor harder to treat.<\/p>\n
An average of 2,660 patients per day were in hospital with flu in England last week \u2013 the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on the week before, NHS England said.<\/p>\n
Flu cases are also rising in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, figures show. <\/p>\n
Children and young people are particularly affected by the outbreak, health officials said.<\/p>\n