Kate Garraway admits she expects to receive ‘flack’ for speaking out on crippling care system: ‘We all need something to catch us when we fall’

Kate Garraway has revealed she expects some ‘flack’ after speaking out about the problems with the UK healthcare system ahead of the release of her latest documentary.

Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story chronicles the final year of Derek Draper’s life as he continued to battle the damaging effects of the long Covid-19 crisis after being bedridden by the virus.

And speaking about the program during an appearance on The One Show on Tuesday, Kate revealed she had received messages from many people in the health sector begging her to say something about the terms.

Kate told hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas: ‘TToday I have social workers, health care workers, doctors, nurses, caregivers who do it for love, caregivers who do it for pay, all saying please say something because we can’t.

“And I know I’m going to get some flack for it, but I’m just looking forward to it we’re all going to need this.

During an appearance on The One Show on Tuesday, Kate revealed that she had received messages from many people in the health sector begging her to speak out about the circumstances as they cannot

“We’re all going to need this for ourselves or for someone we love, and it’s not a blame game, but we have to find a way to work it out.

She continued, “We all need something to catch us when we fall, and it shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to get caught.”

During his career, Derek worked as a political lobbyist before moving into psychology.

Kate added: ‘I always felt for him as someone who fought so hard to make things better during his time as a politician and then as a psychologist.

‘It must have been so hard to see what had not changed, what was done to you then. It’s just terrible.”

While Kate explained that it was Derek who wanted to make the final documentary, she confessed that after his death she was left in a moral dilemma over whether it was right to continue with the project.

She explained: ‘At the end of last year, when we least expected it, the damage of Covid took him from us.

‘So I went through a whole process of thinking, “Is it right? Is it too painful, for his mother, his father, his sisters?”

The host admitted, “And I know I’m going to get some flack for it, but I just feel like we’re all going to need this. “We’re all going to need this for ourselves or for someone we love, and it’s not a blame game, but we have to find a way to work it out.”

She continued, “We all need something to catch us when we fall and it shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to get caught.”

The latest documentary chronicles the final year of Derek Draper’s life as he continued to battle the damaging effects of the long Covid-19 crisis after being bedridden by the virus.

“And then I thought, well, that’s kind of selfish because he wanted it and the people he wanted to stand up for – and he makes that very clear – just because I’m not a caregiver anymore, I wish I was.

“You don’t want to walk away from what you were trying to raise awareness of because it no longer affects you. So it really goes ahead with his wishes.”

She added: ‘He saw the pressure on carers, on professionals, on the system and on assessments, when he was sometimes told ‘you’re just not sick enough’.’

Kate also claimed she is ‘not advocating poverty’ as she revealed the amount of Derek’s healthcare costs.

Sharing an excerpt from tonight’s documentary, Kate speaks to the boss of a social care organization as she reveals the cost of his basic care, without any additional therapy, is almost £4,000 a week.

Annoyed Kate asks, ‘How can I afford that? How can anyone afford £16,000 a month? Why is it that when people get sick, they come home and they feel like they’re falling off a cliff?’

Speaking back in the studio, she continued: “It shouldn’t be that way. Because the skill of a caregiver, the skill of that kind of care, is just lifesaving and just as brilliant as the work of a surgeon, but we don’t respect it. We see it as a luxury.

While Kate explained that it was Derek who wanted to make the final documentary, she confessed that after his death she was left in a moral dilemma over whether it was right to continue with the project.

Kate also claimed she is ‘not advocating poverty’ as she revealed the amount of Derek’s healthcare costs

She added: ‘He saw the pressure on carers, on professionals, on the system and on assessments, when he was sometimes told ‘you’re just not sick enough”

“And I have a great job, I have a very well-paying job, I’m not advocating poverty, but that’s why I felt like I had to be so honest, because if I can’t afford it, who can?

‘People can’t do it alone 24 hours a day. Derek had tremendous medical needs, but even he wasn’t considered medically serious enough to get that support, so what on earth is it like for someone who isn’t ready for that yet?

“Someone who can’t move or communicate, I just fear for all of us.”

Kate previously emotionally revealed she was ‘ashamed’ of the huge debts she has racked up funding her late husband’s care, ahead of the airing of the moving documentary about his final days.