Express.co.uk has contacted Kate Garraway's representatives for comment.Derek spent 13 months in hospital after contracting Covid in March 2020, but Kate and specialist nurses take care of him at home now.The claims come as Kate opened up on her experience with the NHS with shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry.She discussed her husband’s battle on Thursday’s instalment of GMB, suggesting that the government should continue to facilitate private hospitals offering NHS patients beds for free when NHS hospitals don’t have the capacity.“Frankly if I had to have a hip replaced I don’t care where I get it done as long as it’s done,” Emily remarked.“And that happened during Covid, didn’t it?” Kate said.“I know that from personal experience when Derek was first sick there were no spaces on any wards for him to go for the treatment he needed.”She continued: “So at that time in effect, everything was nationalised.“All private hospitals had to take NHS patients at the cost of an NHS patient and he went in.“But after a while the private hospitals said they couldn't make it pay and therefore it came to an end - it reverted back."That seemed like a sensible way to go.So, what was the argument against that?"Answering her own question, she added: “I would have said that the argument against that is that people with private insurance wouldn’t be able to jump queues.”Last December, Kate opened up to Lorraine Kelly about why she no longer updates viewers on her husband’s condition.“The thing I’ve been really aware of is people saying, ‘Oh she’s talking about that again,’” she said.“I don’t want to go on about it because what I’ve learnt is you don’t really know what it feels like until you’re there.“I now get contacted every day, which
