This Was A Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mama, Farthings Kaufman will invest Dr Barrington’s capital most judiciously, well aware that she’ll be retiring in a few years and hoping for a regular income and
somewhere to live.’
    ‘She can come and live with us in Somerset,’ said Emma. ‘Maisie’s old cottage would suit her perfectly.’
    ‘She’s far too proud for that,’ said Seb, ‘and you know it, Mama. In fact, she’s already told me she’s looking for somewhere in Cambridge so she can be near
her friends.’
    ‘But once the takeover goes through, she’ll have enough to buy a castle.’
    ‘My bet,’ said Seb, ‘is that she’ll still end up in a small terraced house not far from her old college.’
    ‘You’re getting dangerously close to becoming wise,’ said Emma, wondering if she should share her latest problem with her son.

4
    ‘S IX MONTHS ,’ said Harry. ‘The damn man should have been hanged, drawn and quartered.’
    ‘What are you going on about?’ asked Emma, calmly, as she poured herself a second cup of tea.
    ‘The thug who punched an A and E nurse, and then assaulted a doctor, has only been sentenced to six months.’
    ‘Dr Hands,’ said Emma. ‘While I agree with your sentiments, there were extenuating circumstances.’
    ‘Like what?’ demanded Harry.
    ‘The nurse concerned wasn’t willing to give evidence when the case came to court.’
    ‘Why not?’ asked Harry, putting down his paper.
    ‘Several of my best nurses come from overseas and don’t want to appear in the witness box for fear the authorities might discover that their immigration papers are not always,
let’s say, in apple-pie order.’
    ‘That’s no reason to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing,’ said Harry.
    ‘We don’t have a lot of choice if the NHS isn’t going to break down.’
    ‘That doesn’t alter the fact that this thug hit a nurse –’ Harry checked the article again – ‘on a Saturday night when he was obviously drunk.’
    ‘Saturday night is the clue,’ said Emma, ‘that William Warwick would have discovered once he’d interviewed the hospital matron and discovered why she turns on the radio
every Saturday afternoon at five o’clock.’ Harry raised an eyebrow. ‘To hear the result of the Bristol City or Bristol Rovers match, depending on which of them is playing at home
that day.’ Harry didn’t interrupt. ‘If they’ve won, it will be a quiet night for A and E. If they’ve drawn, it will be bearable. But if they’ve lost, it will be
a nightmare, because we simply don’t have enough staff to cope.’
    ‘Just because the home team lost a football match?’
    ‘Yes, because you can guarantee the home fans will drown their sorrows and then end up getting into fights. Some, surprise, surprise, turn up in A and E, where they’ll have to wait
for hours before someone can attend to them. Result? Even more fights break out in the waiting room, and occasionally a nurse or doctor tries to intervene.’
    ‘Don’t you have security to handle that?’
    ‘Not enough, I’m afraid. And the hospital doesn’t have the resources while seventy per cent of its annual funding is spent on wages, and the government is insisting on
cutbacks, not handouts. So you can be sure we’ll face exactly the same problem next Saturday night should Rovers lose to Cardiff City.’
    ‘Has Mrs Thatcher come up with any ideas for solving the problem?’
    ‘I suspect she’d agree with you, my darling. Hanged, drawn and quartered would be too good for them. But I don’t think you’ll find that particular policy highlighted in
the next Conservative Party manifesto.’

    Dr Richards listened to his patient’s heartbeat, 72bpm, and ticked another box.
    ‘One final thing, Sir Harry,’ said the doctor, pulling on a latex glove. ‘I just want to check your prostate.
    ‘Hmm,’ he said, a few moments later. ‘There may be a very small lump there. We ought to keep an eye on it. You get dressed now, Sir Harry. All in all, you’re