Kate Garraway shares heartbreak over Derek Draper loss as she challenges Wes Streeting: ‘Unpayable debt’
Kate Garraway confronted Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Good Morning Britain on Friday about social care funding on the first anniversary of her husband Derek Draper’s death.
The 57-year-old presenter challenged the Labour MP over proposals for long-term funding of adult social care in England, which are unlikely to be delivered before 2028.
During the emotional exchange on Friday’s programme, Garraway revealed she faces “excessive and unpayable debt” as a result of caring for her late husband.
Derek Draper died on January 3, 2024, at the age of 56, following a lengthy battle with health problems after contracting Covid in 2020.
The presenter, who has an “incredible job” at ITV, spoke candidly about the financial challenges her family faced during her husband’s care, despite her well-paid position.
“It actually happens to be the anniversary of his death, the one-year anniversary of his death today, which is a day only relevant to me,” Garraway told the programme.
The presenter revealed her family had been discussing the challenges they faced during Derek’s final weeks.
She explained that two separate appeals for funding had been “pushed back” with no resolution by the time her husband entered Intensive Care.
“I’m lucky. I’ve got an incredible job, which is well-paid. I was having to fund the situation,” she said.
“Now I’ve got excessive and unpayable debt because of it, and if I’m in that position what else are people going to be? People can’t afford four more years of this,” she told the Health Secretary.
Earlier last year, Garraway had disclosed that the medical bills for Derek’s care exceeded her salary from ITV.
The costs mounted before factoring in mortgage payments, household bills, or expenses for their children.
In a documentary before his death, she revealed: “Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that is before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids.”
The presenter’s debt was estimated to be between £500,000 and £800,000, with some reports suggesting it may have surpassed £1million by summer.
“I am in debt. I can’t earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek’s care,” she had explained.
She added that available funds were consumed by basic necessities rather than supporting Derek’s recovery.
Responding to Garraway’s concerns, Streeting said “all of us are with you”.
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Speaking via video call from Carlisle, the Health Secretary addressed the broader challenges of social care funding.
“I think one of the reasons we have ended into short-term cycle of failure is whenever we talk about social care, there are always costs involved,” he explained.
He noted that these costs often make people in politics “want to run to the hills and stick their heads in the sand”.
He continued: “I want to come up with a plan that means whoever’s in Government after the next General Election, or the one after that… that broadly speaking we keep the same direction of travel on social care, in the way that we have with the NHS since 1948.”