Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway has spoken of her husband’s ongoing health battles due to the long-term complications of Covid-19.
Derek Draper, 56, contracted coronavirus in March 2020. After falling seriously ill, he was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator in an induced coma. He spent a year as an in-patient, with the virus having “wreaked havoc” on his body, according to his wife.
Derek, a former political lobbyist, has been in and out of hospital ever since, after being left with lasting organ damage.
Kate Garraway husband update
Kate, also 56, updated viewers on her husband’s health when she appeared on ITV lunchtime show Loose Women on 23rd November to mark Carers’ Rights Day.
She revealed he had just returned to hospital as an in-patient, after “lots of referrals and cancellations”. He is to receive the second phase of a course of treatment that started in 2022.
Speaking to Loose Women hosts Jane Moore, Charlene White, Denise Welsh and Sunetra Sarker, Kate praised the hard working UK carers for “saving his life”.
Derek Draper health
Derek’s health remains a huge cause for concern, even after finally being allowed home from hospital in April 2021. He has received round-the-clock care since being discharged and has been readmitted multiple times with serious health problems including brain inflammation, kidney failure and liver damage.
Kate recently published a book, The Strength of Love, telling Derek’s story and how Covid-19 has changed their family’s life. She revealed her husband needed carers to look after him at home, because he “could die” without them. Voicing her support for care givers, Kate said getting their help was a necessity and not a “luxury”.
She described the impact of her husband’s serious illness on their two children, as they were “coming to terms” as a family with what was happening.
Support for carers
For Kate Garraway, caring for Derek has become a way of life, although she admits she has found it incredibly tough caring for a loved one. No matter how hard a day it is, she tries to stay strong for her husband.
She revealed she was averaging just four hours’ sleep a night, amid fears she could lose the support of the carers that he desperately needs. Kate is continually “battling the system” to secure their continuing services.
After spending months in intensive care, Derek is now largely confined to bed at home. However, the family is facing an official adjudication on whether he will continue to be eligible for care in the future.
They have learned they might lose the right to care givers altogether or have their services “significantly reduced” to just one carer.
Praising care workers UK-wide, Kate says she is also standing up for the millions of other people in her situation, who can’t get the help they need due to a national shortage of care workers.
The family doesn’t know how much better or worse Derek can get. Every time he is rushed to hospital, they fear that is the moment he could be taken from them. However, like millions of other families, the future is uncertain because of a care waiting list of 430,000 people in England alone.
With 165,000 posts vacant, Kate is “battling the system” and backing a campaign to improve the long assessment process to secure carers’ services.
Carer assessment delays
Currently, families requiring help must first approach their local council, who will carry out a care needs assessment. If a care package is approved, it will be means tested.
If a family member has “ongoing significant health needs”, relatives can also approach the NHS for “continuing care”. If this is granted, the NHS will pay for the care.
According to the Care Rights UK organisation, there are ongoing problems, including delays in assessments and “inappropriate” care packages that are putting people at risk.
It is putting a “huge strain” on families, who must fill the gaps in healthcare support. Campaigners are calling for an improved system to respect “basic rights”.
The charity Age UK has backed Kate for coming forward and highlighting the care issues people all over the country are experiencing.
Award-winning documentary
For Kate Garraway, news that her family might lose their carers altogether spurred her into making a documentary, Caring for Derek, which won a National Television Award in October 2022.
In her acceptance speech, she explained the family had made the film to highlight the challenges. She described how there was a “crisis of care” in the UK.
Calling the professional carers “extraordinary”, she said although she didn’t begrudge caring for Derek, it was “very hard”. She described her mood as being “frustrated, depressed and emotional” over recent months.
Derek needs ongoing respiratory rehab and is continually at risk of developing serious infections that put him at severe risk.
Kate is doing a fantastic job in both looking after her husband and highlighting the care crisis in the UK. Meanwhile, the hard-working carers and the families who need their help are waiting to see whether the government will heed their pleas.
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