'Here we go again!' Eamonn Holmes despairs at resident doctor strike amid warning of 'more issues' in the new year

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to "get around the table" with union members in the new year to resolve the dispute.

However, he made clear that they are "demanding an extra 26 per cent on top of what we've already given", a figure he says the Government "cannot afford".

Discussing the end of the strike action, Eamonn said on GB News: "So here we are, two hours since the resident doctor strike ended. How on earth is this going to be resolved? Here we go again.

"I heard an awful statistic yesterday, 79 per cent of newly trained doctors in Nigeria end up in the UK, which robs Nigeria of medical help. It seems to be our situation and reverse."

Agreeing with Eamonn, GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope said: "It's wrong to me that we drain a foreign health system of their doctors and bring them here.

"I know doctors who tell me that they can't get a job here, so why can't we give jobs to British doctors who train with British taxpayers money for seven years? It's ridiculous."

Offering a solution, Eamonn then suggested: "We should pay that and say to them 'you work for the NHS now for five years, six years, seven years, and in return, you don't have to pay anything back'.

"That's what you do, that's the deal, and I think a lot of people would bite their hands off for that."

Warning of further disputes from the BMA (British Medical Association) going into the new year, Christopher told Eamonn: "Many people are struggling with flu at this time of the year, and it's not resolved and we will probably see more and more issues in the year."

Responding to Christopher, host Ellie Costello said she "cannot see how" the dispute can "come to an end".

She said: "It's difficult to see how this can come to an end, the way things stand, because both sides are so entrenched. The BMA won't accept any offer that doesn't include more money, and Wes Streeting is saying, 'we've given you money, there's no more money left in the coffers'.

"So perhaps we do need to look at a situation where we're ripping the whole thing up and starting again. Perhaps we're looking at doctors having no medical fees and making them work in the NHS for a minimum period of time."

Christopher responded: "That's what some would say, you need to have some form of return of the taxpayer, rather than allowing people to leave or leave the country. It doesn't make any sense, I think.

"And if that can get resolved, it would be really good for all of us. The 29 per cent pay rise they received Labour came in, they came back for more, this time I think they're rapidly losing public support for these strikes."

Eamonn then told Ellie and Christopher: "I think if you said to people, would you rather pay your GPs, your doctors, these resident doctors or contribute to the foreign aid budget, I think people say forget the foreign aid budget, look after people at home. And we're not looking after people at home."

Christopher agreed: "I think that is where the politics is moving. We have seen Labour slash the foreign aid budget to spend money on defence.

"You can get away with doing that if you're Labour, if it goes towards something like you're describing, improving the NHS, but the NHS gets loads and loads of money and it's not improving is it?"

Eamonn said: "That's very, very true, and then we've got to ask the question, what should the NHS be doing. Can it do everything? Should we be realistic about what we go to the Government for?"