Kate Garraway has shared her views about the revised 3% pay rise offer for NHS workers.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Thursday’s show, Kate, 54, said if it was up to her nurses couldn’t be paid enough, although she acknowledged the economic hardship the country was in.
Her comments come following the year-long hospitalisation of her husband Derek Draper in March 2020 after he contracted Covid-19, with Kate telling co-host Richard Madeley that NHS staff are still “keeping” Derek going and are crucial to his recovery.
Read more: Welsh NHS staff to receive 3% pay rise after ‘extraordinary efforts’ over Covid pandemic
“If it was up to me, you couldn’t pay them enough,” Kate said when Richard asked how she felt about the pay rise.
“Because it’s absolutely extraordinary what all members of the NHS did but nurses particularly.”
Kate went on to praise the detail nurses have to pay attention to, including getting their heads around things like technology when visitors weren’t allowed in hospitals to see their loved ones.
Kate Garraway says ‘you couldn’t pay nurses enough’ in NHS pay rise row
She added: “It’s actually the detail in a critical situation like that with a virus that nobody knew, at the point when Derek got sick, the impact it was going to have.
“The detail of blood pressure and cell count, a lot of that is passed to the nurses and very much on their shoulders and it’s getting that right that makes all the difference, and knowing when to call in the big consultant and work on it.
“So I can’t say enough, of course they should get more. But it’s also a difficult job for the government to work out how to balance and go forward.”
Richard then said to his co-host: “I think you do incredibly well keeping your journalist’s hat on in a situation that you are so deeply immersed in on a personal level, but you are able to take a step back from it and ask straight, journalistic questions. I take my hat off to you.”
Kate Garraway and GMB co-host Richard Madeley debate the NHS
(Image: ITV)
“Well nurses and doctors are still very much involved in keeping Derek going now, so you know, the job is not done and we want to make sure there is enough there for them to keep going,” Kate responded.
Earlier on in the show Kate said she was “desperate” for nurses to be rewarded but pointed out there are others in the public sector who also deserve a pay rise.
ITV’s resident health expert Dr Hilary also had his say, calling the 3% pay rise an “insult”.
He said: “I don’t think £20 a week before tax for a hard-working nurse donning PPE, risking her life on the front line everyday, standing over patients with iPads so they can speak to their relatives at home, patients with Covid, going into care homes and doing the same there.
“I don’t think £20 is enough. It is an insult.”
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