Simon and Lara argue about the treatment of a patient. Max overhears them, and tells them that for two people who are applying to be registrar they’re both behaving very childishly. He asks what the problem is, and when they explain, he says that Simon was right, then gently tells Lara that nobody’s perfect. He turns to Simon, adding, ‘Including you,’ and tells him not to crow. Claire, Simon’s brother’s fiancée, turns up in reception to see him. She tells him she’s supposed to be buying a wedding dress, but can’t bear to do so, when she wants to be with him, not Stuart. Simon leaves his shift to go and help her find a dress. He picks out the prefect dress, and when Claire tries it on, he says it should be the two of them getting married.
Dr Martin Campbell phones his daughter Lizzie that he’ll be late home. He’s supposed to be picking up his son David to take him to the dentist, and asks Lizzie to look after David until he arrives. Lizzie complains that she’s supposed to be going to the cinema, but her father says she’ll have to stay. After putting the phone down, Lizzie thoughtfully picks up the car keys. As Martin is driving home, he comes across the scene of an RTA and stops to offer his help. As he approaches the car, he realises it’s Lizzie’s, complete with L-plates – she had set off with David despite not having passed her test. David, in the back, is seriously injured and unconscious; Lizzie is conscious. Martin shouts at her for being so stupid, and goes with David in the first ambulance, leaving Lizzie crying out for him. She tells the paramedics that her mother is dead. When she arrives at the hospital, Martin goes to see her. He asks her what she thought she was thinking of, driving the car. He says she was responsible for David – he thought better of her. He tells her David could be dead. Seeing how much this is upsetting Lizzie, Lara sends him out of resusc. Meanwhile in paed resusc, Max is fighting to save David’s life. He has to open up David’s chest and perform a thoracotomy, but this is successful – David is stabilised and sent up to theatre. Max goes to break the news to Martin. Martin tells Max that his wife died eighteen months ago, but the children have got over the death of their mother more easily than he has. He says he’s had to rely on Lizzie to do the housekeeping – he was always too busy to spend time with them. Max tells him he’s got a second chance, and Martin says he’ll make it up to them. At this point, Lara knocks on the door and asks Max for a word. Lizzie has had a cardiac arrest and has died. Max goes in and breaks the news to Martin.
Jaqui Sandford brings her father Peter into A&E. He is diabetic and has had a hypoglycaemic attack. As he is being treated he tells Lara that Jaqui is running out on him. Jaqui explains that she is going to leave the family home to move in with her ‘friend’ Chris. Lara is called away to resusc, and when Simon returns from his outing with Claire he takes over her treatment of Peter. Lara returns, and is about to discharge him when Simon objects, saying he should be sent up to the medics to be on the safe side. Lara says he probably brought on the hypo on purpose by skipping a meal, to guilt-trip his daughter into staying with him. Simon is disbelieving, and Lara tells him to have it his own way. Simon goes in to treat Peter, who suddenly says he has pains. Jaqui, concerned, says she won’t move out, and walks away. Peter immediately says he feels better, and admits he was putting it on so Jaqui would stay with him. Simon congratulates him on his performance, then goes to see Jaqui, and tells her that her father was putting it on, desperate for him to stay. She tells him she’s always done everything for her father, but then, at the age of forty-one, she fell in love with Chris, and now she wants to make up for lost time. She asks him if there’s ever been someone he wants to be with, even if it upsets everyone else, saying that’s how she feels about Chris. Simon says Chris must be a great bloke, and she says that Chris is actually a woman – how can she tell her dad that her first boyfriend is actually a girl? Simon tells her to just go for it with Chris, and Jaqui goes to tell her father everything.
The staff are on the watch for journalists sniffing round the department, following the death of MP Justine Walker’s son in the corridor. Journalist Alison Phelps is on the phone in the ladies’ when Colette opens the door, knocking her on the head. Colette gets help and she is taken to a cubicle and treated. She is trying to subtly ask questions about the death of Danny Walker, but no-one is telling her anything. The staff soon spot her name on the front of a local paper, and realise who she is, and keep making pointed remarks. Lara asks Roxanne to suture Alison’s wound, but Roxy, as a student nurse, is not allowed to do so, so Duffy offers to do it and let Roxy observe. When she has prepared the wound, she asks Roxy to do the suture, saying it’s all right under her supervision. Alison, hearing this, is worried. Roxy does the suture well, and Alison says she didn’t feel a thing. Duffy asks if she’ll put that in her report.
Tony tells Dillon that one of the patients has asked for him – ‘the gay one’. Dillon asks who told her he was gay, and Anna says it’s the bottle-blond hair that gives it away. Dillon protests that he’s a natural blond. Afterwards he asks Roxy for advice on dying his hair, and she tells him to get a wash-in wash-out dye to see if he likes it. Later, within earshot of Tony, Dillon asks Anna what she’s up to tonight. She says she’ll probably fall asleep in front of the telly as usual, and he asks if he can join her. Anna agrees. After the shift, as Jack and Nikki are sitting in the kitchen, Anna and Dillon appear, and Anna reveals Dillon’s new hair colour. The other’s reaction isn’t too encouraging, and Dillon says he can always wash it out. He says he’s going to go, but Anna jokingly protests that he only wanted her for her hairdressing skills, and he agrees to stay and watch TV. As Jack and Nikki go upstairs, they say they’ll have to turn the volume up. Upstairs, it’s the first time Jack and Nikki have slept together since his operation, and Jack’s having problems. Nikki tries to reassure him that it happens to a lot of blokes, but Jack’s not happy, and says maybe they made a mistake getting back together in the first place. He says perhaps they should just be friends, and Nikki half-heartedly agrees.
Fin has been trying to persuade Comfort to leave Rob for him. She protests that it’s easy for him, but eventually agrees, saying she’ll tell Rob tonight. She tells Fin he’d better be there for her when she’s done it, though. After the shift she goes home to find that Rob has cooked supper for them. She tells him she’s seeing someone else. At first he thinks she is joking, but soon realises she isn’t and immediately knows that it’s Fin, saying he’ll kill him. Comfort tells Rob she’s leaving him. He asks if she and Fin have slept together, and when she says they have, he tells at her to get out of the house. Comfort leaves to the sound of smashing crockery.
Jan asks Max for a word about the death of Danny Walker. Max is unwilling but eventually agrees. He tells Jan that they didn’t have enough staff or equipment to cope with the situation. Jan asks him to consult her before making his statement about the death of Danny Walker. When Max objects, she says it wasn’t her decision not to ventilate Danny, and it wasn’t her fault that Danny’s mother was allowed to find him dead in a corridor. Max says that if the incident shakes things up and allows him to give better care to his patients, perhaps Danny won’t have died for nothing. Jan goes to give a statement to the press about the incident. She tells them the Norwalk outbreak has ended and points out that at no time did the hospital stop offering emergency treatment. She tells them that there will be an inquiry into the whole incident. Justine Walker turns up and starts asking awkward questions, suggesting that the Norwalk outbreak was caused by lowering hygiene levels due to cost-cutting. She calls for Jan’s resignation. Jan says she has no more to say, and departs. She goes to talk to Charlie, worrying that she might be forced to resign. She says she got her last two jobs after her predecessors were forced to resign. Charlie tells her she’s the best thing that’s happened to the hospital in a long time. Jan replies that she doesn’t fail, not at her job – she’s good at it. But she’s sacrificed her family and relationships for her career. Charlie says they can’t get rid of her if she’s done nothing wrong, but she says that now resignation has been mentioned, getting rid of her might be the best thing for the hospital’s reputation. She says she’s got to go up in front of the board now, and Charlie tells her to come and see him when she’s finished. When Jan returns, Charlie asks if they are asking for her to resign, and she says they didn’t put it so bluntly. Charlie tells her it’s not her fault – it was one sick patient; the A&E staff decided how to treat him, not her – Max decided the ventilators were best used elsewhere. Jan says it’s not his head on the block. Charlie says it shouldn’t be anyone’s. Jan tells him they’re looking for a scapegoat, and Charlie replies that it doesn’t have to be her. Jan, watching Max through the window, agrees.
Episode first broadcast Saturday 27th April 2002
Additional Cast
Rob Jones
Chad Shepherd Dr Martin Campbell
David Bamber Elizabeth Campbell
Leona Walker David Campbell
Jack Townsend Alison Phelps
Sharlene Whyte Peter Sandford
Michael Beint Jaqui Sandford
Kim Hicks Jim
David Sterne Justine Walker
Gillian Taylforth Danny Walker
Ben McKay
SERIES 16
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