Matron pulled off the flatulent geriatric’s bed covers while her assistant carefully read the instructions on the back of the roll of wallpaper. The two health care professionals were engaged in a programme of “re-decoration” which was being implemented throughout the hospital. A team of design consultants had successfully persuaded the hospital management that wallpapering would, temporarily at least, improve the institution’s low rating. The consultants had concluded that too many of the patients were “tired and dated” and needed freshening up before any further viewings by external inspectors. The nurses, however, knew the true depths of the hospital’s problems and saw this latest managerial initiative for what it was: a a stop-gap measure that was merely papering over the cracks.