Kate Garraway challenges UK health secretary on anniversary of husband’s death

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway has confronted the UK health secretary about “excessive unpayable” care debts for her husband Derek Draper on the one-year anniversary of his death.

Former lobbyist and political adviser Mr Draper died on January 3rd, 2024 at the age of 56 after suffering long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus.

Garraway, 57, grilled Wes Streeting about the “recruitment crisis” in the social care sector and “terrible lack of underfunding” when he appeared on the ITV programme on Friday morning via video call.

'People can't afford four more years of this.'@kategarraway questions Health Secretary @wesstreeting on why proposals to the long-term funding of adult social care in England are unlikely to be delivered before 2028. pic.twitter.com/4k9rpm8ro8

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 3, 2025

It comes as the cabinet minister announced the first steps towards creating a National Care Service, with an independent commission expected to begin in the spring.

The timeline means that proposals for the long-term funding and major reform of social care in England may not be delivered until 2028.

Garraway told Mr Streeting: “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 (Mr Draper) went back into intensive care before he ed 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.

“Now I’ve got excessive unpayable debt because of it.

“And if I’m in that position, what else are people going to be?” Garraway asked, adding: “People can’t afford four more years of this.”

“Firstly Kate, I know lots of viewers will feel the same, having followed (Mr Draper’s story)”, Mr Streeting said.

“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.”

He told Garraway and her co-host Adil Ray: “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.”

Mr Draper fell seriously ill with Covid-19 in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged.

Despite being free of the virus, he had suffered long-lasting damage to his organs and required daily care up until his death.

In 2021, Garraway won a prize at the National Television Awards (NTAs) for the documentary Finding Derek, about her family’s experience during the pandemic that detailed her husband’s treatment and his subsequent return to their family home.

The commission to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service will be split over two phases with the first, reporting to UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in mid-2026, looking at the issues facing social care and recommending medium-term reforms.

The second phase is expected by 2028 and will make recommendations for the longer term.