It's made to hold a medical patient, say (4)
I believe the answer is:
case
'say' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for case that I've seen before include "Instance - container" , "Piece of luggage and a court proceeding" , "proceedings" , "Detective work" , "Outer shell" .)