Series 20, Episode 15: Tate Gallery by Joe Ainsworth
It’s take two for John as his previous Bilateral Stereotactic Thermocoagulation of the Nucleus Accumbens for his patient, Will Harrington proved to be far less successful than previously hoped, so this time around he is going for a far less risqué procedure, this time via Deep Brain Stimulation. Despite the events from last week, Will is up for the procedure as he just wants a second chance of life…
The whole Harrington case has meant that John has been distracted since he is now Holby’s Director of Medicine (whatever that is?!) as he is overseeing innovation pitches from a range of doctors and surgeons during the course of the day. Roxanna was quick to clock onto John being away with the fairies as he reveals that one of his benefactors that is supporting the stem cell trial is threatening to pull out following Fiona’s death. With Roxanna now fully aware of John’s predicament, she suggests to him full transparency and disclosure to the board and CEO, Abigail. John disagrees as the hospital will pull out of their current funding for his stem cell project, but Roxanna is much more optimistic as it could give him and the board an opportunity to find new backers. Since it is Roxanna’s first day in the stem cell trial, she is concerned that John is withholding valuable information.
In the wet lab, Roxanna wonders how a previous patient of John’s survived with the stem cell treatment but Fiona didn’t… John believes it was due to the post-operative care, but Roxanna wants to keep digging and asks what was John’s criteria for his stem cell trial, which was anyone with a degenerative disease rather than trauma-related incident. With John away, Roxanna gains the consent from Will to perform the DBS, that is until his daughter, Phoebe arrives and tries to throw a spanner into the works… She insists on Will not to go through with his procedure, and tries to convince Roxanna that the operation is not in Will’s best interest.
John returns back to Keller with Roxanna delivering the news that it should be trauma victims that should be prime candidates for stem cell trials (take Jac in this instance!) as they don’t have any pre-existing conditions which means a better chance of surviving post-operative care. John, initially sceptical later thanks Roxanna for her perspective, but gives her new information of his own following hours of pitches; going from nerve grafting to synthetic scaffolding for future stem cell procedures. With John in deep conversation with Roxanna, they are interrupted by Phoebe who insists on her father’s treatment being postponed, which is news to John and insists it will take place as planned.
John’s less than transparent actions have raised Abigail’s eyebrows when she informs him that one of his benefactors has threatened to pull out, and was annoyed that John hadn’t filled her in on the details, and has refused to provide the media a statement about Will’s treatment, leaving it in John’s capable hands. Certainly, Phoebe later desists from trying to dissuade Will from having surgery, branding him a “coward” as he would take drugs over his family, which is certainly not what Will was trying to achieve. In surgery, Roxanna ponders why John was considering switching to a synthetic scaffold and asks whether Fiona’s death was due to her frailty, or whether the implant was faulty. John is not 100% certain of her cause of death (yeah, yeah, yeah) and assumes it played a part, but Roxanna was more miffed that this information was not disclosed in her notes and continues to affirm that more transparency is needed.
This time around, Will’s surgery was far more successful and with him having regained consciousness, John later gives Roxanna the job of debriefing the press, much to her surprise. Abigail later returns and is relieved that her father has survived surgery, but will be his job to get off the drugs and support his family. Both John and Roxanna debrief the media, but after giving their statements, Roxanna wants some reassurances from John that full transparency must be made and disclosed when discussing future stem cell cases.
Over on AAU, Ric remains on restricted duties and has become more accepting of that decision by the board; that is until fellow boxing mate and previous patient of his, Kit McNeil has arrived but this time with cancer, in this case a Stage 4 Retroperitoneal Sarcoma. Serena delivers the bad news to Ric who will be overseeing Kit’s care and surgery, revealing that his cancer has spread at an alarming rate and will require part of the liver and diaphragm to be removed in the process.
Ric later delivers the news to Kit that he will be treating him since he has since been released from the slammer, certainly Kit never imagined him being locked up and ends up citing a Stephen King movie in the process. “Like that old geezer from The Shawshank Redemption.” with Ric assuming that Kit is talking about Morgan Freeman, “No, Brooks. The old bloke with the pet crow.” Donna couldn’t help but contain her giggles as Ric looked somewhat bemused. With one of the best films of all time out of the way, Ric states that Serena will be treating Kit, much to his bemusement, “She the posh one?” he asks as Ric looks at him slightly dismayed.
Ric airs caution about Kit’s treatment to Serena due to him having performed an Aortic Graft due to a leaking aneurysm, and wonders what her procedure will entail with Ric concurring with Serena’s decision that removing the ascending colon would be the right way to go. As Ric remains on restricted duties, he bumps into Abigail to state he will be pitching to the board about a bespoke bladder, requiring funding for a new wet lab and research into his proposal, but the chairman, Lord Vikram Rashid was not convinced as Ric receiving funding for his project would mean the hospital would be in damage limitation mode following his return from prison. Ric was not impressed by his line of questioning and would rather concentrate on his pitch, which Abigail proceeds with. Whilst Ric was away, Serena was busy in surgery as Kit’s tumour was going to be a nightmare to excise…
Unfortunately, Kit’s tumour has proven to be difficult to treat (as was suspected!) and is quickly losing blood after his IVC was torn. With a copious amount of empty O- blood and FFP strewn on the floor (counted 9 O- and 4 FFP empty bags), Serena was struggling to contain the bleed and things were looking bleak until Ric made an appearance to see how Kit is doing. With Serena out of options and Nicky wondering if Ric could provide assistance, Serena had little choice but to allow Ric into surgery as it was just short notice to get another consultant to assist with Ric already present. The rules were bended but in this case, Kit survives surgery as his large tumour is successfully removed and the bleeding stemmed, but Ric’s presence in surgery has certainly raised eyebrows as Abigail arrives with both Ric and Serena still in their scrubs.
Both Ric and Serena are accosted in Abigail’s office and defend themselves, initially Serena was willing to take the blame as it was her surgery and patient but Ric insists that she doesn’t. With everyone on AAU knowing that Ric had stepped into surgery, she believes that a cover up would be made to ensure Ric’s handiwork would go unnoticed, but Serena denies any suggestion of that. Abigail later goes into damage limitation mode as it would have been helpful if she was made aware of Ric attending surgery so the trust can defend themselves in the event of a media breakdown. Back on the ward, Ric later visits a conscious Kit and comforts him when he thought he was going to die and tells him it is ok to be scared.
With his shift having ended, Ric bumps into John on the way out and finds out the board are willing to impart funds to Ric’s bespoke project… As ever, there was a caveat! Ric will need to share all of his findings with John, in order for him to find different solutions for his stem cell trial. Ric is unsure whether to proceed with John’s deal, but he offers an opportunity as a friend of his has offered his new wet lab to Ric up in Leeds, which he can use free of charge and seeing out the rest of his probationary period in the West Yorkshire city. Ric reluctantly agrees, much to John’s delight.
Going upstairs on Darwin, we need to talk about Fletch… I am disliking his character even more as he becomes even more sceptical about Abigail and continuing to be on a proverbial high horse! I digress however as Frieda was wonderful during this episode and a well done to Olga Fedori for her performance in this storyline.
Darwin’s story continues where it left off as talented college student, Hannah Best is hoping to have her Batista, but with Abigail being CEO and everything, she is very busy and asks Frieda to keep an eye on Hannah, and keep an eye on Hannah she does as Frieda runs a full blood count as Hannah stares at her in a sort of amazed fashion. “Is there something on my face?” Frieda asks as Hannah responds, “No, I just love your colour palette.” Frieda is ever modest about how people see her, never caring about what others think about her appearance which I applaud, and that is certainly something Hannah clocked onto as well.
As Frieda successfully takes her blood, she discloses what a Batista might mean for her, which includes a new set of medication, stomach cramps and heavier periods which Hannah scoffs at the mention. Frieda clocks on to Hannah’s scoff and she insists to forget about it, but Frieda has other ideas. “Well, I mean. I could sit here all day asking you questions.” for which Hannah admits that she has never had a period, and is something that she never disclosed, not even on her admission. With Abigail still away going however pitches from senior doctors, Hannah’s bloods came back relatively quickly and showed raised levels of testosterone, which means her surgery might have to be pushed as more tests need to be carried out.
Frieda relays the bloods to Abigail and insists on more tests to be carried before Hannah even sets foot into surgery; but as more tests are about to be carried out, Hannah has done a disappearing act as all her belongings have gone in the process. Fletch wasn’t best pleased that Hannah is gone and blames Abigail and Frieda for keeping her waiting, but Frieda insists that this was more to do with the new tests that needed to be arranged more than anything. They later find Hannah outside the hospital car park, but she soon collapses and fibrillates, requiring the defibrillator and is soon back in sinus and back on the ward; but her Batista will be postponed in favour of a CABG. Frieda breaks the news as more tests will need to be carried out, but Fletch grows impatient of Abigail’s lack of commitment to being a surgeon, favouring a job with the board but Abigail takes offence as she will always favour treating actual patients than a desk job.
With Hannah recovering in HDU following a CABG, Frieda provides an update to her about her future recovery, but Hannah doubts if she will ever make a full recovery and have a normal life. Frieda delves into why Hannah discharged herself and reveals she couldn’t comprehend what the test results would have showed and didn’t want to be seen as different, and asks Frieda what that feels like. “Oh, I think I am perfectly normal.” Frieda comments, “Everybody else is a weirdo.” Hannah opens up, most of the time she feels like a boy than a girl, but sometimes neither. Frieda provides support for Hannah and insists she is not on her own… Frieda is the only person Hannah has opened up to, and wonders whether Hannah is aware of Intersex, which she is. As the night draws in, Frieda stays besides Hannah bedside.
Next week: It’s Nicky’s first day as an F1 on Darwin, but her loyalties are tested when she is given the opportunity to impress John in surgery. Meena begins her first day as a Neurosurgical F1, but her jealously comes to head when she sees Nicky stepping on her toes; and Xavier’s arrogance arouses the suspicions of Lofty’s adoring aunt, Sheilagh.
The Silver Screen 