Will doctors strike during 'superflu' outbreak? Exact date we find if NHS walkout will go ahead

Will doctors strike during 'superflu' outbreak? Exact date we find if NHS walkout will go ahead

The government has said the BMA strikes, if they go ahead, will 'undoubtedly' put lives at risk.

Ellen Manning

Connor Parker

Updated

Sun, December 14, 2025 at 12:13 PM UTC

4 min read

Wes Streeting agreed with an assertion that the collapse of the NHS is now at 'one minute to midnight'. (PA)

The government has said NHS strikes next week will put lives at risk amid the wave of "superflu" cases.

Resident doctor members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are due to stage a five-day strike.

And home secretary Shabana Mahmood told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: "I think it's undoubtedly the case that strikes in the NHS do put lives at risk."

The BMA is holding a vote on a government offer intended to avert the walkouts.

Ahead of the close of the vote tomorrow (15 December), health secretary Wes Streeting has also been ramping up pressure on the BMA, saying strikes would be the "Jenga piece that collapses the tower" of the health service.

He also claimed the NHS doomsday clock is at "one minute to midnight", adding he, and NHS staff, would be in a "terrifying position" if the strike goes ahead at a time when flu is causing "probably the worst pressure the NHS has faced since COVID".

The BMA has accused Streeting of "scaremongering", saying he has been acting in a “cruel and calculated” way and describing the government's offer as "poor".

So when are the strikes set to take place?

When is the strike?

Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, who are members of the BMA, are due to stage a five-day strike in England from 7am on Wednesday, 17 December to 7am on Monday, 22 December, in an ongoing dispute over pay and jobs.

If the action goes ahead, it will be the 14th strike by the union since March 2023.

Doctors have gone on strike over a dozen times in recent years. (PA)

When will we find out if the strike is going ahead?

After receiving the new offer, the BMA said it would consult its members through an online survey and ask them if they think the new deal is enough to call off the strike.

The online poll will close on Monday (15 December), two days before the five-day strike is set to start.

How bad is the 'superflu' outbreak?

The UK is currently in the middle of a major flu outbreak, with the latest figures showing the number of people in hospital in England with flu jumped 55% in a week.

Streeting said "there is a tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals" as an average 2,660 flu patients were in hospital each day last week, up from 1,717 the previous week.

Flu hospital admissions in England. (PA)

At this point last year, the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402.

Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.

Part of the problem is that the predominant strain of flu circulating this winter is different from those in previous years.

According to the UK Health Security Agency, the drifted H3N2 strain is dominant, which means there is "less natural immunity in the community".

"H3N2 flu strains typically affect older adults more severely than H1N1 strains, leading to more hospitalisations and deaths, creating further pressure on our NHS this winter."

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the "unprecedented wave of superflu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year" and there was no peak in sight.

What is the BMA being offered?

The BMA said the government's offer includes concessions "aimed at tackling the continuing shortage of training places for resident doctors in England".

The government has pledged to introduce legislation to prioritise UK medical graduates for training places from next year, increase the number of specialty training posts from 1,000 to 4,000, and cover the cost of exam fees.

The government has insisted that a further pay increase - the reason why the BMA called the strikes earlier this month - is off the negotiating table after resident doctors received pay rises totalling nearly 30% in the past three years.

The BMA says real-terms pay has declined by about 20% over the last 17 years.

Polling suggests public support for strikes is low, with a new YouGov survey showing 58% of respondents oppose the industrial action, while 33% support it.

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