New Support for the Backbone

The New Support is 18 year old Bella Anstruther, newly qualified as a medical secretary, embarking on her first job in St Regis District General Hospital in Chelsea, London. The backbone refers to all the support personnel required to run the hospital. The book follows Bella's progress from a shaky start to successful promotion. In parallel is her aspiration to become a rock singer and the friendships she forms in and around St Regis. St Regis itself is suffering: the buildings require urgent repairs and the staff's morale is in decline due to poor conditions, low pay and terrible food. Cumbridge, the new Hospital Administrator, attempts to instigate management schemes but only adds to staff resentment. This is a light-hearted and affectionate reflection of life in a London hospital in the late 1970's and is book one of the Bella's stories.