Lorraine's resident doctor Dr Hilary Jones has issued a health update after being rushed to hospital over the Christmas period. Appearing on the ITV show on Tuesday, the 72-year-old GP revealed that he was blue-lighted to Pembury Hospital after experiencing chest pain.
Dr Hilary's health update
"It was a bit of a scare," he told Lorraine. "I had this virus that was going around, that everybody else seems to have had, and I had a bit of pneumonia and pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the membrane around your heart.
"It was quite painful and I wasn't quite sure what it was at first," Dr Hilary continued, before commending the "excellent" paramedics who attended him and gave him an ECG.
"[The] ECG was a bit scary, it said I had a heart attack," he said. "I hadn't. Then we analysed the trace together and diagnosed pericarditis." The TV doctor went on to thank the "brilliant" paramedics who looked after him, as well as the team at Pembury Hospital where he was thoroughly checked over.
Lorraine shared her own concern, saying: "We were worried. I was very, very worried. You know when you just hear, you get a message saying, 'Oh, Hilary's been blue-lighted to the ambulance,' and all the rest of it.
"But I felt better after talking to you, and you're OK. Everything's absolutely fine."
Dr Hilary Jones's role on Lorraine
Dr Hilary first appeared on TV-am in 1989, before establishing himself as a trusted health advisor on GMTV in 1993, where he first worked with Lorraine. They have remained colleagues ever since, with the programme later becoming Daybreak and Lorraine in 2010.
Despite remaining a familiar face on the ITV show, Dr Hilary's role was scaled back at the end of last year due to cuts.
"I’m still working there until December 31, and then I’m a free agent," he said. "It’s liberating from the constraints of a news programme presenter. I’ll probably come back as a guest presenter now and then.
"People are being very sensitive to the fact that some people are having to move on. A lot of people are being redeployed elsewhere or in the same role. ITV, like everyone else, are having to make changes. I think people at work know where they stand, and many saw changes coming."