St Angelus needs a new assistant matron and the members of the Liverpool District Hospital Board have overruled Emily Haycock and Dr Gaskell in their choice. Enter the mysterious Miss Van Gilder from somewhere down south. St Angelus runs like a family: the workers take care of their own - a lesson Miss Van Gilder is about to learn the hard way.
Lily Lancashire lives in the tenements with her siblings and alcoholic parents. Little Joe has had trouble breathing since he could walk. Doctors keep telling Lily his wheeze is just a call for his mother. No one takes her concerns seriously, least of all Miss van Gilder.
The nurses of Lovely Lane have a secret which is dividing their close knit group, but then an unexpected event makes everything else pale into insignificance as Nurse Pammy Tanner once again breaks the rules. But this time, her actions threaten them all.
