Kate Garraway confronted the Health Secretary over ‘excessive unpayable’ debts following the death of her late husband.
Good Morning Britain presenter announced on January 5 last year that her partner Derek Draper had passed away. It came four years after his Covid began.
The Chorley-born, former Labour lobbyist fell ill with the virus in March 2020. He spent over a year in hospital.
A year after his diagnosis – in April 2021 – Derek returned to his family home, but needed round-the-clock care from Kate and their children, the Manchester Evening News reports. Following her husband’s death, Kate appeared in the documentary Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
The presenter grilled Health Secretary Wes Streeting about the ‘recruitment crisis’ in the social care sector during an interview on ITV on Friday morning (January 3). Kate referenced ‘terrible underfunding’. The minister announced the government is taking the first steps towards creating a National Care Service.
Kate and Derek at home during filming in May 2023
(Image: ITV)
An independent commission is expected to begin in Spring 2025. But proposals for the long-term funding and major reform of social care in England may not be delivered until 2028.
After spending her first Christmas without husband Derek, Kate said: “Over the last few weeks, the family and I have been talking about the challenges we faced this time last year. And one of the overriding ones, when he went back into intensive care before he passed away, was dealing with the funding of care.
“At the time of his death there were two appeals that hadn’t been heard for funding. It kept on getting pushed back and pushed back. In the meantime, and I’m lucky I’ve got an incredible job which is well paid, I was having to fund the situation.”
She admitted she’s now struggling with ‘excessive, unpayable debt’ because of the lack of support she received. With the news that changes might not be implemented until 2028, Kate told the politician: “People can’t afford four more years of this.”
The Health Secretary said: “Firstly Kate, I know lots of viewers will feel the same, having followed Derek’s story. Your anniversary that you’re going through – yourself and your family – all of us are with you.
He added: “I think that’s why your story connected with so many people. It’s not just that you’re a familiar face on people’s screens and your viewers feel they’ve got a relationship with you as a presenter.
“It’s also because your experience with Derek, and your family’s experience resonates with so many people across the country who are struggling with the same costs or the same unmet needs or similar experiences.”
Kate’s documentary won an award for ‘Authored Documentary’ at the 2024 National Television Awards. She accepted the award on stage and said: “It’s so strange to be here – this one’s for you Derek, absolutely.”
Mr Streeting continued: “I think one of the reasons why we’ve always ended back into this short-termist cycle of failure is: whenever we talk about social care, there are costs involved. And that sort of makes people run for the hills and want to stick their head in the sand in politics, because sometimes those numbers can be scary.
“One of the reasons I genuinely think – even with the majority of the size that we’ve got – it’s a good thing to try and build cross-party consensus, is, I want to come up with a plan that means whoever’s in government after the next general election or the one after that, whether it’s a Labour government or a Conservative government or a coalition, or whoever, that broadly speaking, we keep the same direction of travel on social care in the way that we have with the NHS since 1948.”
A “national consensus” around a National Care Service will be separated into two different phases. The first phase will be reported to Prime Minister Keir Starmer in mid-2026 and look at the issues facing social care and recommending medium-term reforms. The second phase which is all to do with longer term recommendations, is due to land around 2028.
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