I get irritated by programmes that imply that we, as a nation, are a bunch of thuggish, hopeless, greedy, want everything right now, drunken idiots. Of course, if you find yourself in the wrong pub at the wrong time, you can easily fall for that line of thinking… or if you watch Jeremy Kyle. However, you have to remember that there’s a lot of great and kind people in this country who aren’t heard above the minority of rabblers. That said, I couldn’t blame the people featured in last night’s The Hospital (Channel 4, Tuesday, 7 April, 9pm) one bit, as they’re the ones who have to clean up after our excesses. The front-line staff of various hospitals were filmed in A&E on weekend nights… and boy, it made for some fascinating, but grim viewing.

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Pretty much all of The Hospital was utterly, utterly depressing. Last night focused on what felt like a constant influx of people who had misused the booze. Of course, it was thanks to the editing suite that I thought that, but the talking heads of the show, backed up the notion that hospital staff are at breaking point dealing with our drunks. At times, it felt like the show was a cry for help from our emergency services.

The underlying point, underneath the veneer of We’ve Never Seen It So Bad, was that many of us really don’t appreciate how great our hospitals are. You turn up, never see the cost and walk away patched up. Yet, in all this, our doctors, nurses and consultants (and the rest!) are getting more and more abuse from people hammered on cheap-shots.

Some of the people featured were inexcusably hammered, falling flat on their faces, spewing in kidney shaped bowls and hurling abuse at those trying to help. Some, idiotic AND drunk, charged around screaming “HELP! HELP! SHE’S NOT BREATHING!” as their pissed mate fell asleep. One couple spat at how horribly they’d been treated, not thinking for one second how many people were being brought back from the dead elsewhere. All over a sprained ankle or whatever.

One consultant, Naomi Cuthbert, said: “They think, ‘It’s my right and I want it now’, rather than ‘I know you’re doing your best and thank you very much, doctor’,” You can see how bitter she is… and it would be a heartless swine that didn’t feel for her. Initially, I thought I was going to hoot at her for being a snob or something, but really, you can see how angry she is when she’s the one trying to help… mostly without a thank-you or any sign of gratitude.

The fact is, our medical staff are unfairly under siege from all angles. They’re saving lives and taking care of us all when we need it most… yet, at the same time as dealing with what must be the most stressful job in the world, they’re constantly attacked by the press for not being up to scratch and being hit with unreasonable targets by government officials who have no idea how the job works. We’ve turned on the people we should be gushing with thanks at.

We saw how incredibly tough the life in A&E is with one lad dying, another being saved from amputation, various stab-wounds and more. It was stressful enough to watch, let alone deal with on a day-to-day basis. What was telling was, that one lad who had been involved in a car accident, instead of being grateful for his life to the hospital staff, was filmed after the accident down the pub laughing at the pay-out he’d be getting with his chuckling mate who had crashed the car while over-the-limit and implying he’d been taking class A’s.

Whilst the show is bound to make some angry, it makes for riveting viewing and, hopefully, will make some of us restock and become more aware of the amazing people that keep us well and alive. A brilliant, if horrible programme.