And Then There Was Swine Flu

A fictional account of a week in the life of a Hospital manager during the Swine Flu crisis. The author uses her experience as a Clinical Services Manager in the Health Service to provide a compelling insight into the daily drama that surrounds the frontline running of a hospital during a would be epidemic. The manager and her team are asked to identify a process for dealing with the crisis and at the same time continue to provide care and meet existing targets with no extra budget.

The story begins with the manager arriving at her office which is based just outside the operating theatres to a scene where the OR team are still in the process of dealing with a gunshot wound. Her life is made up of a series of meetings that solve little and involve much discussion with various groups within the hospital. She is stressed and does not suffer incompetence quietly. She is fierce and superficial but irritatingly competent at dealing with interpersonal crises and dramatic life threatening events, that are a daily part of hospital life.