Crossword Genius

Practical skill of detective Nicholas shortly going round hospital (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

technic

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'practical skill' is the definition.
'technic' can be an answer for 'skill' (thesaurus). I am unsure of the 'practical' bit.

'detective nicholas shortly going round hospital' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'detective' could be 'tec' (synonyms) and 'tec' is found within the answer.
'hospital' could be 'h' (abbreviation for hospital on maps) and 'h' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for technic that I've seen is " Study of art".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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