Crossword Genius

Clearly in pain when composing the piece about hospital (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

writhing

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'clearly in' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'pain when composing the piece about hospital' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'piece' could be 'r' (abbreviation for Rook) and 'r' is found in the answer.
'hospital' could be 'h' and 'h' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'witing' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for writhing that I've seen before include "Showing acute embarrassment" , "Squirming in pain" , "Evincing pain" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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