Bloodlines

Andrew Davidson goes behind the scenes at Britain's largest hospital trust and describes a year in the life of a hospital through the stories of those who work there and those who pass through. St Thomas' Hospital, opposite the Houses of Parliament, is one of the most famous centres of medical excellence in the world. For the past two years it has been the subject of bitter political controversy over the decision to amalgamate it with its rival, Guy's. From the man who runs the Mortuary to the Chief Executive who has 'finished' an affair with the head of PR - but who has just born his child - to the patients with Multi Drug Resistant Infection (an extremely scary potential by-product of going into hospital) and those who come into Casualty to have frozen fish removed from unlikely places - this is the most vividly realised book that has ever emerged from a modern hospital. It reveals the choices that doctors, nurses, administrators and patients must make each day - decisions that are often literally a matter of life and death.