Direction for higher standards of patient care? (7)
I believe the answer is:
upwards
'direction for higher standards of patient care?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'direction for higher standards of patient care?' is the wordplay.
'direction' becomes 'W' (W is an example).
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'higher' becomes 'up'.
'standards of patient care?' becomes 'ards' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'w' after 'up' is 'upw'.
'upw'+'ards'='UPWARDS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for upwards that I've seen before include "in direction of ceiling" , "Towards a higher level" , "To a higher position" .)