Harsh regulations restricting time at hospital allotted to head of surgery (8)
I believe the answer is:
ruthless
'harsh' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'regulations restricting time at hospital allotted to head of surgery' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'time' could be 't' and 't' is found in the answer.
'hospital' could be 'h' and 'h' is found in the answer.
'regulations' could be 'rules' ('rule' can be a synonym of 'regulation') and 'rules' is located in the remaining letters.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for ruthless that I've seen before include "devoid of compassion" , "Showing no mercy" , "Unsparing" , "Brutal" , "Without mercy or pity" .)