Kate Garraway, host of Good Morning Britain, has revealed that a colleague is currently awaiting further testing following a’suspicious’ cervical cancer diagnosis.
During a debate on NHS waiting lists on Friday’s programme, the presenter, 56, used the ITV staffer as an example to illustrate lengthy appointment times for non-urgent treatment.
Kate said that while urgent treatment was still being provided, less vital appointments were being put back, including one for a coworker who had been waiting for a follow-up test since June.
She said: ‘Urgent care is still delivered, it is the long-term things….for instance, somebody we know, a colleague here, had a suspicious result from a test for cervical cancer and [needed to be] called back.
‘But that was in June and they’ve still not heard anything about the callback. So that isn’t urgent in that you’re about to drop dead that second, but bad things could’ve happened in that time.’
NHS England waiting lists for regular appointments reached a new high last month, with an estimated 7.68 million individuals waiting to begin treatment at the end of July.
It is the largest amount since records began in August 2007, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promising to reduce waiting times and declaring it a priority for 2023.
After hearing ‘heartbreaking’ anecdotes from NHS patients, Sir Rod Stewart, 78, stepped in early this year.
The Maggie May singer committed and delivered on his commitment to pay for treatments at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, after being shocked by the length of waiting lists for crucial procedures and tests.
Kate’s remarks come after she revealed she had a health scare last year.
She awoke one morning last November with a severe ache in her chest and suspected she was suffering a heart attack.
She was urged to go to the accident and emergency room after electing to go to work despite being unwell during her commute.
Fortunately, physicians informed her that she was not experiencing a heart attack, but they did stress that Kate needed to care after herself in addition to caring for her husband Derek.
‘It might have been stress-related angina,’ she explained in her book The Strength of Love. ‘Or it could also have been my body’s response to stress in general. But it has forced me to make some changes.’
Kate has been Derek’s carer since he contracted Covid in 2020 and experienced severe difficulties as a result.
The couple has two children, Darcey and William, and the TV host has kept viewers up to date on Derek’s illness as it has progressed in recent years.
She last spoke about his condition in October at the Pride of Britain awards: ‘He’s not doing great, to be honest.
‘But the battle goes on.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
