Chat in hospital kitchen (4)
I believe the answer is:
talk
'chat' is the definition.
(I know that chat is a kind of converse)
'in hospital kitchen' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'TALK' is hidden in the letters of 'hospital kitchen'.
(Other definitions for talk that I've seen before include "Idle gossip" , "Conversation" , "Gossip - lecture" , "Discussion" , "Utter" .)