Wes Streeting has warned Britain is facing a “tsunami of flu” in the worst period for the NHS since the pandemic.

The Health Secretary has today made a direct appeal to the public to protect themselves - and to resident doctors considering going on strike in the busiest days before Christmas. Mr Streeting has said he “can't guarantee patient safety over the next week” if the five-day walkout goes ahead in England from 7am on Wednesday.

The Government has made a last ditch offerto the British Medical Association to prioritise homegrown doctors for NHS training places and increase them by 4,000 - which its members are voting whether to accept this weekend.

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The NHS is facing its worst moment since the Covid pandemic as an average of 2,660 patients were hospitalised with flu every day last week, the highest on record for this time of year. Hospitalisations are highest among people over 75 and children under five.

Writing in the Mirror, Mr Streeting said: “Hospital admissions are more than 50% higher than this time last year, with the peak still to come. Beds are 95% full and staff sickness is rising sharply.

“The best way you can protect yourself this winter is by getting vaccinated and with Christmas approaching, I encourage you to get yourself jabbed if you have not done so already.

“As if the tsunami of flu wasn’t enough, to add to the huge pressure on the NHS, the British Medical Association is threatening to press ahead with their cynical Christmas strikes. Striking during a flu epidemic is unconscionable. If they go ahead, it is no exaggeration to say that the BMA will have chosen to put lives at risk this Christmas.”

The Government has put a fresh offer to resident doctors which focuses on job opportunities and training places. The BMA has put the offer to its members to vote on, but it is expected they will reject it as it does not provide a further increase to their headline pay rise of 5.4% deal for 2025/26.

Mr Streeting said: “Over this weekend, resident doctors are voting on whether to move forward with this comprehensive and generous offer. I urge resident doctors to seize this opportunity, end the extreme jeopardy they are threatening over our NHS this Christmas and end the strikes.”

Polling commissioned by the government by YouGov this week showed that 58% of the public do not support the upcoming resident doctors' strikes. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it is "frankly beyond belief" that resident doctors would strike at “the NHS's most precarious moment since the pandemic”.

Resident doctors are those below the level of consultant and mainly work in hospitals. The new offer to the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee includes new legislation to ensure homegrown doctors in training have priority for speciality training roles.

The Government wants to tackle long-established “bottle necks” where doctors become unemployed after their first few years in the NHS due to a lack of positions where they can continue their training and career progression. If accepted, the offer would increase these speciality training posts by 4,000 over the next three years, with 1,000 of these brought forward to start in 2026. It would also pay for doctors’ training costs by funding mandatory examination and Royal College membership fees for resident doctors.

Dr Jack Fletcher, BMA resident doctors committee chair, said: “It is horrible for anyone to be suffering with flu – we are not diminishing the impact of that – but Mr Streeting should not be scaremongering the public into thinking that the NHS will not be able to look after them and their loved ones. He is laying the blame for the failings of the NHS to cope with an outbreak of flu at the feet of resident doctors and yet he is strangely reluctant to turn that concern into action and come to the negotiating table.

“What is cruel and calculated is the way in which the Health Secretary fails to have any engagement with us outside strikes and then comes to us with an offer he knows is poor and expects us to just accept it within 24 hours. Mr Streeting holds all the cards to both postponing the strike and ending the dispute once and for all, but he seems more interested in political grandstanding and exploiting public fears than he does in doing anything useful that would stop the strikes."

The BMA is calling for a commitment to increase pay by 26% over the next few years. The BMA points to pay erosion since 2008 saying real terms salaries are down a fifth since then, according to the Retail Price Index measure of inflation. The Government’s preferred measure of inflation is the Consumer Price Index - which excludes mortgage and permanent housing costs - shows average resident doctor salaries down 5% since 2008.

Mr Streeting has pointed out that by any measure their pay has been increasing in real terms in recent years, including their latest 5.4% deal for 2025/26.

The NHS is grappling with an incredibly tough winter. Hospital admissions are more than 50 percent higher than this time last year, with the peak still to come. Beds are 95 percent full and staff sickness is rising sharply.

The best way you can protect yourself this winter is by getting vaccinated – and with Christmas approaching, I encourage you to get yourself jabbed if you have not done so already.

Some 170,000 more flu vaccines have been delivered compared to this time last year, with over 60,000 more NHS staff also getting their jab. I can’t thank NHS staff enough for the work they are doing to keep providing excellent care to patients in the most challenging of circumstances.

As if the tsunami of flu wasn’t enough, to add to the huge pressure on the NHS, the British Medical Association is threatening to press ahead with their cynical Christmas strikes. Striking during a flu epidemic is unconscionable. If they go ahead, it is no exaggeration to say that the BMA will have chosen to put lives at risk this Christmas.

Even after delivering a 28.9% pay rise for resident doctors, I've been working flat out to resolve this dispute for once and for all, for the sake of doctors, other NHS staff and patients. This week, I have pulled every lever to put an offer on the table that puts more money in the pockets of resident doctors, and it also addresses their valid concerns about career progression. Over this weekend, resident doctors are voting on whether to move forward with this comprehensive and generous offer.

Alongside creating 4000 more speciality training roles, included within it is emergency legislation to prioritise UK graduates for speciality training roles, the next career stage after the foundation training years of medical training. This would halve the competition for jobs from 4 doctors competing for each job post, to less than 2 doctors competing for each post.

Decades of incoherent workforce planning means we have a ridiculous situation where homegrown doctors are being locked out of the speciality training places despite the huge investment the state has made in them. Yet British taxpayers invest over £4 billion every year training the next generation of doctors. It’s absurd that after making this enormous contribution, British taxpayers and medics, who have also invested time and money into their career, don’t get a fair return.

Make no mistake, the NHS benefits hugely from its international staff, and we’ll continue to support and attract talented overseas staff that want to dedicate their time, energy and skills to the health service. But by prioritising UK and Irish graduates and others with significant NHS experience, we're proposing a solution that is sensible and right – protecting the investment the British public has made, giving our homegrown talent a fair chance to progress, and building a sustainable medical workforce, fit for the future.

On top of this, the offer will put more money back in the pockets of resident doctors, through support with unique costs like exam fees and Royal College membership. I urge resident doctors to seize this opportunity, end the extreme jeopardy they are threatening over our NHS this Christmas and end the strikes.