Goddess soon afterward in hospital department? (6)
I believe the answer is:
athene
'goddess' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'afterward in hospital department?' is the wordplay.
'afterward' becomes 'then' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'hospital department?' becomes 'ae' (A&E, Accident & Emergency).
'then' going inside 'ae' is 'ATHENE'.
'soon' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for athene that I've seen before include "Pallas -, Greek goddess of wisdom" , "Minerva was Roman counterpart of this goddess" , "Wise woman" , "One inclined towards socialism or communism" , "Pallas -, Gr. goddess" .)