Possible Clues:

• In direction to
• Pulls round firmly, to get head off - it's not coming away
• In the direction of what's in the middle of 24 across
• Approaching there in hospital
• In the direction of, informally
• Where patients are taken after operations, or just before
• Near to hospital rooms
• In this direction they'll all have to be patient
• 'A hospital has many specialized places / Where patients recover in bright, cheerful spaces ...'
• Nearing time, duck fight with gutless drunks