12 January 2023 , 09:40
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Kate Garraway has clashed with an MP on Good Morning Britain over the government’s solution to meet the demand for patient beds in NHS hospitals.
The 55-year-old presenter reflected on her husband Derek’s care throughout the pandemic, when he was left in a critical condition after contracting Covid-19 in 2020.
On Thursday on the ITV morning show, Kate spoke with Shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry about private healthcare.
“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 told Kate and her co-host, Ben Shephard.
Kate Garraway asked MP Emily Thornberry why the government don't make private healthcare facilities available for NHS patients (ITV)Kate advocated for the use of private hospitals to give NHS patients care – for free - when there aren’t enough beds in national hospitals.
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“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.
Emily suggested that it didn't matter where patients were treated, but didn't agree with Kate's solution (ITV)"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?"
Kate answered her own question: “I would have said that the argument against that is that people with private insurance wouldn’t be able to jump queues."
Despite Kate’s persistence to discuss whether the NHS was being privatised, Emily said her priority is the National Health Service.
The mother-of-two posed: “But that would be the solution, as if you’re going to pay for some people to go to those private hospitals, why don’t you do it for everybody?”