Unfortunate lapses cured by hospital (7)
I believe the answer is:
hapless
'unfortunate' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'lapses cured by hospital' is the wordplay.
'cured' indicates an anagram.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'hospital' becomes 'h' (abbreviation for hospital on maps).
'lapses' is an anagram of 'apless'.
'apless' put after 'h' is 'HAPLESS'.
(Other definitions for hapless that I've seen before include "He slaps (anag) - unlucky" , "Ill-fated" , "Unlucky, unfortunate" , "Piteous" , "Pathetic" .)