Malpractice season 2 sees Dr Norma Callahan (Helen Behan) and Dr George Adjei (Jordan Kouamé) from the Medical Investigation Unit (MIU) return for a brand new case - this time looking into the actions of Dr James Ford (Tom Hughes), a Psychiatric Registrar in a North Yorkshire hospital.
James finds himself torn between a new mother attending a routine postnatal check-up and the sectioning of a psychotic woman during a hectic on-call shift - and soon a devastating turn of events leaves new mum Rosie dead and James fighting for his job. Is he a doctor with a God complex or the victim of wider problems?
Here is everything that happened in Malpractice season 2 episode 3...
The third episode opens right where the second left off, with James arriving at Kate's flat after taking Fizz to A&E after she overdosed on pills. He admits to Kate that he took her to the hospital he doesn't work at despite it being further away, because he is under investigation. Kate is cross that he has risked everything by going out with people he doesn't know, but reassures him that she has a friend at the hospital and will call him to see how Fizz is doing.
Kate's friend says that Fizz is stable, and James is relieved. He tells her that he hates the fact they have to keep their romance a secret, but she reminds him that if anyone found out, she would lose her job.
Norma and George call Sophia in for another meeting, pointing out that they wanted to clarify a few things from her last interview. They ask her why Rosie was on the ward for so long, and she bluffs, saying that they were worried that she had an infection, so they kept her in to make sure she was okay before letting her home.
She belittles everything Maria said and tells George and Norma that she can't be trusted and thinks she knows better than the doctors. Sophia lies that even if Maria did think that Rosie needed to see a psychiatrist, she never told her about it. George and Norma realise they are going to have to trawl through call logs to see if anyone ever made the referral.
James goes to see Toni, who is being transferred to the mother and baby unit. She is reluctant to bond with Sam, her newborn, and the midwife tells James that it is likely because of what happened when her daughter, Apple, was born. He doesn't know what she is talking about, and she reminds him about Apple getting a head fracture after Toni dropped her. She says Apple recovered well and says they will do some attachment work with Toni and Sam while she is with them. James seems surprised about the fracture, but pretends he remembers.
James goes to see Alison, the midwife looking after Toni when she had Apple. She doesn't want to talk to James and clams up when he asks about the fracture, saying she doesn't want to end up like Maria. James doesn't know who Maria is, and as he is about to ask more, Sophia comes in and asks why he is there. She gets cross when James suggests the baby wasn't dropped and the fracture might have been a result of the forceps delivery. He says Sophia told him there were no complications when Apple was born and questions why she lied. She tells him to get off her ward and goes to walk off, but he tries to stop her by grabbing her wrist, and everyone sees.
George tells Norma that he has studied the calls in the log and there were a couple to Willow Ward that could have been Maria calling. They say a locum called Ava will be the one who can verify what happened. George goes to see Ava, and she confirms that the referral was made, and that it was also cancelled, but says she didn't note down who made the calls. Meanwhile, James is doing some digging on Maria online and is surprised to see she has been suspended.
Eric is walking out of the hospital with Sophia's boss, Arun, and they are talking about their daughters going to a 10th birthday party together and are clearly good friends. Arun points out that James was on the obstetrics ward earlier and tells Eric that James was 'harassing' Sophia, which we know isn't true. But, Eric says he will look into it.
Norma gets home to catch her daughter, Ruby, hugging a mystery man. He leaves and she confronts Ruby, who says Ben is her tutor and he was there because she is thinking of quitting medicine.
Sophia goes to see Maria at home and threatens her not to talk to the MIU again. Maria says that she knows they are getting close to the truth, but Sophia retaliates by telling her that she needs to keep quiet or she will make her life hell.
At his sister's, James keeps quiet when her boyfriend points out that Fizz has been off work sick since their night out and asks if they hooked up. James denies it and says he should give Fizz a call if he is worried about her, but his sister's boyfriend says he did, but Fizz didn't answer. Later, James tries to contact Maria on a chat site, and she reads his messages, but doesn't reply.
Sophia is called to see a mum in labour, and she does a quick examination and thinks the woman is eclamptic and needs a c-section. The midwife tries to reason that she doesn't know for sure that she has been having seizures, but Sophia is rude and condescending to her and tells the mother that she needs an emergency c-section or she could die. The mum is terrified and upset, as she wanted a natural labour. The mother, Claire, has a baby boy born by c-section.
George tells Norma that paperwork shows that Rosie was the one who said she thought she had an infection, and that a blood test was ordered, but there are no results recorded. So Norma asks him to get on to the lab and ask for all the results of any blood tests Rosie had during her time at the hospital.
Sophia goes to meet her team and hand over notes about deliveries that day. She tells them about Claire and her unwanted emergency c-section, but instead of them thanking her for quick thinking, everyone says her poor decision-making resulted in a mother having major surgery that she didn't want or need. Sophia is defensive and spiky, and tries to blame the midwife, Ellie, who questioned her decision. Her boss, Arun, says she has cost the department thousands of pounds and he isn't happy at all. She points out that after what happened with Toni and Rosie that she should be trying to avoid any more problems, but he points out that the department isn't under scrutiny; she is.
George tells Norma that all of Rosie's blood tests are back and every one of them is clear. Norma realises that Rosie's consistent questioning about having an infection was the first sign that she was mentally unstable, and everyone ignored it, apart from Maria. She asks George to set up a meeting with Maria, this time without her lawyer present.
Kate tells James that Sophia has made a bullying complaint against him and asks what happened. He says that he went to talk to a midwife and grabbed Sophia's wrist, but that's all. She tells him that while the investigation is going on, they should cool their relationship, and he is devastated, telling her that she doesn't have anyone else.
But the pair aren't as alone as they think they are, and one of the patients, Ashlene (the one who is obsessed with James), has seen them together and is upset when Kate kisses James goodbye.
James gets a text from Maria, sending him her phone number, but before he can call her, the alarm in the unit sounds, and it is Ashlene, who has tried to take her own life by putting tape around her neck. The staff struggle to cut it off, but eventually free her when she is just moments from death. Kate questions where she got the tape from, and it is the same tape left by maintenance on the ladies' toilets that James tore down in epsiode 2.
Eric meets with MIU and assumes Norma and George want to talk about James, but they say it is Sophia they want to draw his attention to. They say that Sophia ignored Rosie's symptoms and cancelled her referral to psychiatry. But when they say Maria is their source, Eric dismisses her as unreliable, reminds them she is also under investigation, and that they shouldn't lose sight of Rosie by focusing on Sophia. He is quite adamant that they were brought in to look at James and not Sophia, leaving both Norma and George concerned by what he might be trying to cover up.
While they are talking, Precious comes to visit Ashlene in the main hospital after her suicide attempt and asks why she tried to take her own life after she was doing so well. But Ashlene just cries and shows her the photo of Kate and James kissing.
But James's day is about to get even worse, because a new admission arrives, who is heavily sedated after a manic episode... and it turns out to be Fizz, the woman who took the overdose while she was clubbing with James.
All episodes of Malpractice season 2 are available on ITVX as a box set now.
The series will air on ITV1 on Sunday, May 4, Monday, May 5, Tuesday, May 6 all at 9pm. The final two episodes will air on Sunday, May 11, and Monday, May 12 also at 9pm on ITV1.
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