Specialist hospital in pleasant surroundings (5)
I believe the answer is:
niche
'surroundings' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'specialist hospital in pleasant' is the wordplay.
'specialist hospital' becomes 'h' (I am not sure about the 'specialist' bit.**).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'pleasant' becomes 'nice' ('nice' is associated in meaning with 'pleasant').
'h' put into 'nice' is 'NICHE'.
(Other definitions for niche that I've seen before include "somewhere comfortable" , "Recess; comfy corner" , "hole" , "good spot!" , "Cosy corner?" .)