Children's Doctor, Society Bride by Joanna Neil

Author:Joanna Neil [Joanna Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781460376874
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘SAVE our A&E.’ The protestors, an assorted bunch of people from all walks of life—men, women, young and old—held their placards high and milled about in front of the hospital.

‘Don’t let them close us down.’ The doctors and nurses were out in force to add their points of view.

‘Do you want to travel thirty or forty miles to the nearest hospital when your child has been injured in a traffic accident?’ someone shouted.

A woman took up the call. ‘What will happen to your child if he’s having an asthma attack and there’s no paediatric A&E locally?’

Press photographers were taking snapshots of the scene, and Louise noticed that a TV cameraman was moving in to get a close-up of the crowd.

Then James appeared, and a young woman came and held a microphone up to him, saying, ‘This is prime time regional news. James Ashleigh—you’ve put your name to this call for closure. What do you say to these people who are frightened for the lives of their children?’

He looked into her eyes, and Louise knew a wave of irritation as the young woman’s cool veneer melted under the warmth of his smile just as though the sun had come out in all its glory.

‘I want you to know that I do understand everyone’s concern,’ he said, his voice lilting, melodic in its gentle tone. ‘Our aim as doctors is, and always has been, to save lives. But the fact is, local is not always best. We are trying to create regional hospitals that will provide the very best in care—expert care. Some treatments are by their nature more complex than others, and these will be provided in the new refurbished wing at the Royal Forest Hospital.’

‘But what will happen to those youngsters who are injured and need treatment right away?’ To give her credit, the girl stayed on target, and Louise cautiously revised her opinion of her.

‘There will be local casualty units available,’ he said. ‘You already have the walk-in centre just four miles from here, but under the plans we’re putting forward there will be another small unit created at the hospital.’

The protesters, quiet until now, suddenly erupted. ‘He’s talking about minor injuries,’ a man shouted. ‘Who’s going to take proper care of our kids? Answer me that.’

James was speaking once more, in that measured, amicable tone that he had used before, and in spite of herself Louise couldn’t help but admire him for his calm way of dealing with these people. He couldn’t have known that they would be lying in wait outside the hospital, but he’d handled the situation with his usual assured style. She decided that she had seen enough.

‘Thank you for helping me to organise this,’ she said, going over to one of the campaign leaders. ‘I have to go and get back towork, but I wanted to tell you that you’ve done really well, arranging such a massive turnout.’

He nodded. ‘This is just the beginning. We have all sorts of actions up our sleeves. I just hope that they show your interview in full on TV,’ he said.

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