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Sympathised with, when bound for the central hospital (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pitied

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'sympathised with' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'bound for the central hospital' is the wordplay.
'bound' becomes 'tied' ('tie' can be a synonym of 'bind').
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'the central' says to take the centre.
The middle of 'hospital' is 'pi'.
'tied' put after 'pi' is 'PITIED'.

'when' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pitied that I've seen before include "Felt sorry for, sympathised with" , "Tie dip (anag.)" , "Felt compassion toward" , "Commiserated" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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