The Taming of Dr. Alex Draycott (12 page)

She frowned, trying to gather her thoughts together. Was he regretting what he’d said just a few moments ago and trying to find a way out? Perhaps it was just as well that they’d been interrupted.

‘Maybe.’ She looked at him, her gaze troubled. ‘I should go and see what the children are up to,’ she said.

He nodded acknowledgement of that, and slowly released her. ‘I know.’

She added hesitantly, ‘Do you want to stay and have some tea with us?’ She wasn’t altogether sure how she would cope, having him close by for the rest of the afternoon. She was already overwhelmed and confused.

He shook his head. ‘I think I’d better go,’ he said with some reluctance. ‘I promised I would take some clean nightwear into hospital for my aunt, along with a few bits and pieces she asked for, magazines and so on.’

‘Okay. You could take the cookies in to her, if you like.’

‘Will do.’

She saw him off a few minutes later, feeling sad to see him go, as though she was losing something special. Then she went back into the house and tried to push those thoughts aside and give all her attention to the children. She spent the rest of the afternoon making flower baskets with them. With any luck, they would stay fresh until they could take them along to the hospital.

‘Can we go and see Mummy tomorrow?’ Sarah asked. ‘I want to see if she can come home soon.’

Alex nodded. ‘I have to work, but Martha said she would take you there. She wants to go and see Auntie Jane.’

Alex’s weekend break came to an end all too soon, and she was left feeling frustrated at not having achieved all she wanted, as well as being slightly out of synch. There were never enough hours in the day to do everything that was necessary, and it left her irritable and out of sorts. Perhaps the workload was beginning to get to her.

Worrying about her brother didn’t help the situation. She pulled in her visits to Ross, Beth and Jane first thing next morning, before she started work, and that only added to her anxieties. Ross was in a bad way. He was breathless, breathing fast and he was complaining of chest pain.

‘We’re going to get an X-ray of his chest,’ the nurse on duty told her. ‘And, depending what that shows, the doctor might order a CT scan. There was a lot of trauma to his chest, initially, but after surgery we thought he was on the mend. This is a complication he could do without.’

Alex nodded. ‘Will you let me know what happens? I’ll be down in A and E, but you can page me at any time or use my mobile number.’

‘I will.’

Things were no more settled down in the emergency unit. In fact, when Alex walked towards the department a few minutes later, she found her way to the main doors was blocked by a throng of news reporters, all shouting questions towards a small group of doctors and nurses.

‘So how do you feel about the threatened closures?’ one man asked. He thrust his recording device towards Katie, who was obviously the spokeswoman for the nurses.

‘I believe it will do irreparable harm to patients,’ Katie told him. ‘They will be diverted to the new hospital some fifteen miles away, and that means treatment will be delayed for precious minutes. People who live locally are being denied the services they need.’

The reporter turned to the others and began asking more questions. ‘Why is the board considering making this move?’

‘It’s all about budget cuts,’ Simon Henderson answered. ‘The hospital is running out of money.’

Alex worked her way to the fringes of the group. ‘What’s going on here?’ she said urgently, keeping her voice low as she drew Katie to one side.

‘Oh, you won’t have heard, will you? You weren’t here.’ Katie frowned. ‘Dr Langton’s threatening to close the A and E department down at night. He laid the plans out in a circular he distributed to the staff late yesterday. He thinks we can save money by staying open for fewer hours, but it makes us think that will just be the beginning.’

‘Is it actually going to happen, or is it just a threat?’ Alex was bewildered by the news. ‘Why have the press been called in? How did they get to hear about it?’

‘As soon as we read the circular, we thought they should be kept informed. Maybe if the public know that their emergency department could be lost to them, they’ll be able to influence the hospital board and persuade them to drop their plans. That’s what Callum believes, anyway. He thought our idea of bringing in the press was a good one.’

‘Callum? He’s part of this?’

‘Very much so.’ Katie nodded. ‘He’s over there, speaking to a journalist from one of the nationals.’

Alex pulled in a sharp breath. ‘I’ll go and talk to him.’

Involving the press was a bad move, bad for everyone. It meant that people would be tense and antagonistic and much less likely to listen to reason, and it would probably irritate the members of the board and cause them to react in a negative fashion. This whole thing was wrong.

She turned to look back at the reporters as Callum’s voice suddenly sounded loud and clear. ‘If Oakdale’s services are moved to the new city hospital, lives could be put in danger. We have to fight this. Asthmatics, patients with heart conditions or kidney disease—all these could suffer if they have to travel long distances for emergency treatment. This is a bad policy. It will be a bad day for the people who live locally if this plan is allowed to go ahead.’

Alex’s expression was bleak as she watched him. He had the attention of everyone present. They were hanging on his every word, eager to capture his thoughts and take the story back to their newsrooms. How could he do such a thing without talking to her first? He knew how hard she’d worked to keep the unit viable by making savings, and he knew how much it meant to her to succeed.

She moved towards him, only to be waylaid by one of the reporters who read her name badge and thrust his tape recorder towards her. ‘You’re one of the managers here, Dr Draycott? What do you have to say about the proposed closure?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I’d say that’s all it is…a proposed measure. Nothing has been decided, and there are other options still to be considered. We’ve already made substantial changes to ensure the smooth running of the emergency department, whilst still being able to work within a limited budget—but there are other steps we can take. It’s my opinion that services should continue to be provided here at Oakdale, and I shall be talking to the members of the board with suggestions as to how we can do that.’

The reporters threw a barrage of questions at her, but she stepped back, saying briefly, ‘Excuse me, please. I have to go to work. As soon as there are any detailed announcements, please be assured you’ll be the first to hear them.’

She pushed through the main doors and went into the A and E department. She pulled in a deep breath. How could she have been pushed into defending her ground like that? How could Callum have let it happen?

‘You stood your corner well, back there,’ he said, coming up alongside her a minute or so later. ‘It must have come as a shock to you, to walk into that.’

‘It certainly did.’ She sent him a troubled glance. ‘Why on earth would you want the press involved? And how do you imagine I feel, when you know how hard I’ve worked to keep things running smoothly? It’s as though you’ve pulled the rug out from under my feet. You know Dr Langton can’t make a move without the approval of the board—this was all unnecessary. I’d expected more from you. I’d hoped you would support me.’

‘I do support you, and if you’d been here yesterday I would have brought you in on what we were planning—but, believe me, Dr Langton would have gone to the press sooner or later. As soon as we saw the circular, we realised he’d reverted to his old style. It’s what he did when he worked at the other hospital, and we felt we had to gain the upper hand, one way or another. The new hospital building in the city is his pet project. It’s beginning to look as though he has no loyalty to Oakdale. He thinks services should be centralised and that’s what he’s pushing for.’

‘But Dr Langton doesn’t have the final say in this.’ She frowned. ‘He’s just one member of the board, and if the rest of them disagree he’ll have to go along with the majority decision. You’re all assuming it’s a done deal. It isn’t, and I’m just so disappointed that you could throw away everything I’ve done as if it was of no account, and that you have so little faith in me.’

‘Alex, you’re putting the wrong interpretation on this. It isn’t that we don’t appreciate what you’ve done. You’ve done your very best in a difficult situation. But going on past history, Langton is a law unto himself. He’s totally single-minded, and once he’s decided on something, he’s not easily diverted.’

‘We’ll have to see about that, won’t we? All I know is that you kept me out of the loop and went ahead without talking to me. I feel so let down.’ She started to move away from him, her shoulders stiff, her whole body tense.

‘This isn’t about you, Alex, or the way you’ve done your job.’ He caught up with her and laid his hands on her shoulders, his grasp warm and firm. ‘It’s about Dr Langton and his policies. You’re overreacting.’

She was stunned by his comment. ‘You think I’m overreacting?’ She shook her head. ‘How exactly would you expect me to react? You’re handing Dr Langton a publicity coup—how do you think he’s going to respond to this? He’ll bring out all the arguments for placing the new foundation hospital at the centre of things. Oakdale will become yesterday’s news. Well, let me tell you—that’s not going to happen if I have anything to do with it.’

‘Alex, you need to listen—’

‘No, I don’t think so.’ She started to walk briskly away from him, and didn’t stop when he called after her. She was going straight up to Dr Langton’s office to deal with this matter at its heart.

‘I’m sorry, but Dr Langton is not seeing anyone at the moment,’ his secretary told her when she walked into his office a short time later.

‘I believe he’ll see me.’ Alex walked across the room and knocked on the inner door. Then she opened it and went in.

‘Alex…’ Dr Langton was startled.

His secretary followed Alex into the room. ‘I’m sorry Dr Langton…’ She hesitated, appearing flustered. ‘I told her that you were busy and not free to see people this morning.’

‘It’s all right, Natalie.’ He waved her away. ‘You can leave us alone…just hold my calls for a few minutes, will you?’

Natalie withdrew, shutting the door behind her, and Dr Langton sent Alex a cautious look. ‘You seem upset, my dear,’ he said. ‘Is there something I can do for you?’

‘Yes, I’m upset.’ Her glance ran over him. ‘And, yes, there is something you can do for me. Perhaps you can explain to me why you’ve circulated plans to close down the A and E department without even consulting with me first of all. Wouldn’t it have been a professional courtesy to keep me informed of what you had in mind? And perhaps you can tell me why are you even considering closure when there are so many alternatives available to us?’

‘Ah…so you’ve heard about that?’

‘Oh, yes. There’s a gaggle of press outside the main doors, all clamouring for information, and I was caught up in it without having any warning or knowledge of what it was all about.’

‘The press?’

‘The press,’ she confirmed. ‘Did you not expect word to get out?’

‘Well, maybe not so soon…’

‘The thing is, Dr Langton, I feel you should have kept me informed of your plans regarding A and E. You put me in a difficult position, having to defend management strategies. As I understand it, you think we can cut down on the hours that the department is open and gradually divert services elsewhere. Am I right in thinking that way?’

She waited for him to answer.

He cleared his throat. ‘Ahem… It does seem to me that the community might be better served if services were more centralised. I felt that by putting out a circular we might put forward the ideas for change and at the same time gauge the reaction of the staff.’

‘But you didn’t consult with me first. I’m saddened that you didn’t feel able to share your ideas with me—it might have saved a lot of distress if you’d done that—because unfortunately your circular has upset a lot of people.’

‘I would have included you, of course, my dear, but the timing seemed right, with the board meeting coming up shortly. It was all a bit rushed, I have to confess, but I think the board members will most likely agree with my proposals.’

‘Yes, it was rushed. And as you’ve said, the whole matter still has to go before the board. I have to disagree with your notion about the outcome. I don’t believe the closure of the A and E department, at night or permanently, is a foregone conclusion at all. And I do feel that there are still so many proposals to lay before them so that they will think twice about any reduction in the A and E services.’

He spread his hands in an open gesture. ‘Of course, you’re entitled to your opinion. I know you’ve worked tremendously hard, but we have to think of these things on a larger scale. We have to think what would best serve the wider community.’

Alex’s mouth firmed. ‘We also have to think of the local community. Oakdale has a great reputation for being one of the best hospitals around, and its A and E unit is second to none. I won’t see it obliterated in order to justify the expense of a foundation hospital. A good many people who live around here owe their lives to this emergency department, as do the tourists who come to the area every summer. Believe me, Dr Langton, I won’t stand by and see it fall by the wayside.’

She left his office in a flurry of determination. After all the meetings she’d had with him, all the different ways she’d come up with to pare down expenses, he’d turned his back on her and gone his own way. Well, he would regret that. The board would hear of her ideas for boosting the hospital budget and there would be no more going through Dr Langton first—he hadn’t been considerate enough to consult with her. Instead, she’d email her suggestions to them and follow them up at the next board meeting. She was on good terms with the other executive members and she would see what they had to say about all this.

She was still disturbed by the whole business when she went back to her office in A and E. She sat down at her desk and rattled off a round-robin email, pressing the ‘send’ button just as Callum knocked on her door and walked in.