Kate Garraway has shared a horror incident for her “distressed” husband Derek Draper on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
The presenter’s husband fell out of his wheelchair while in a taxi as it went over a speed bump.
She said: “Ambulances are delayed but if you book an official car you wait hours. I've used a lot of cabs for Derek to go to and from the hospital because the mobility services are very, very delayed.
“If you try to book an official car you can sometimes be waiting five hours. He was in a lot of pain, so it wasn't sustainable to wait.
“We took a cab home from the hospital, went over a speed bump and he slipped out of the wheelchair.
“It's hard. You want somebody there with you to deal with it. I am lucky - the taxi driver was really good at handling somebody with that condition.
"I should say Derek was fine by the way. Distressed, but fine.”
Kate was joined on this morning’s show by Ben Shephard, Charlotte Hawkins and Dr Anita Raha.
During the show, Dr Raha urged patients not to take taxis to hospital.
She said: “I would call out to people who make policies and ask and urge them to get paramedics on the table for negotiations - we need to get this job lucrative so top notch medical people are on hand to treat us.
“Ambulances wait in the bay for hours before being seen. We have seen this. We need to work on long term solutions and jumping in a taxi to A&E is certainly not something I would advise anybody.
“People are having tests in the back of an ambulance. What do you think happens when people reach A&E? Are they medically assessed ASAP? This is a misconception. We need to work at long-term solutions.”
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