Dr Fraser Callan is recovering from his wife’s death. In need of a change, he takes a job at the Wansborough Community Hospital in Wiltshire. Previously known as St. James’, the hospital has made a miraculous recovery from a scandalous history, when it was described as “Death Wards” for the elderly by the national press. But history sometimes comes back to haunt us…

At first, the hospital seems a model of excellence, but then Fraser realises that more patients are dying of pneumonia than should be the case. When he raises the matter, he is ridiculed, threatened with the sack and finally beaten up by gangs of thugs. Then, after the suspicious death of an old man with terminal cancer, Fraser realises he must act. He reports his suspicions and is persuaded by Marcus Evans, a mysterious civil servant, to work undercover to find the killer.