Doctor almost cuts actual curative (8)
I believe the answer is:
remedial
'curative' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'doctor almost cuts actual' is the wordplay.
'doctor almost' becomes 'medi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cuts' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cut their way into other letters).
'actual' becomes 'real' (similar in meaning).
'medi' put inside 'real' is 'REMEDIAL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for remedial that I've seen before include "Providing cure or help for disability" , "Corrective" , "Medicinal" , "for the lower classes" , "Putting things right" .)