Hello, Goodbye

Annette Crosbie guest stars in this episode on end of life care. Polyoaks is to become a ‘vanguard’ site as part of the NHS ‘Five Year Forward View’. Best intentions are subverted by one older service user’s views on so-called elderly care.

The Polyoaks surgery is plagued by strikes, endless new management initiatives, staff shortages, militant patients, eight day weeks, privatisation – and all these things are entirely their fault, apparently.

The dysfunctional Bristol surgery run by warring doctors, brothers Roy and Hugh Thornton alternates between embracing and collapsing under reforms. They’re a nurse down, they’ve got to slash their budget and there’s a new Head of the local Clinical Commissioning Group who eats GPs for breakfast.

The practice’s calamitous ‘celebrity’ Dr Jeremy who doesn’t know what a Clinical Commissioning Group is, continues to dodge alimony payments, malpractice suits and the new scary practice Nurse Monica.

Jeremy.......................David Westhead
Hugh..........................Simon Greenall
Monica.......................Polly Frame
Roy............................Nigel Planer
Veronica.....................Annette Crosbie
Stephanie/Mrs O'Neil..................Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Ali Evans....................Caroline Rodgers

Written by Dr Phil Hammond and Mr David Spicer

Director: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2016.