History of the National Health Service Emergency Ward 10 was first broadcast in 1957 on ITV and ran until 1967 and followed the life and loves of the staff and patients of the fictionalised Oxbridge General. ITV later followed this up with General Hospital which borrowed much from Emergency Ward 10 in terms of its themes and focus. The idea of a medical hospital as a suitable and popular setting for a soap opera continued to take root in the 1980s. Casualty, set in an A&E department, was first broadcast in 1986 and has since become the longest running medical drama in the world. At a
A Flame in the Wind as the lead-in for "General Hospital". "A Flame in the Wind" was replaced in the 2:00 p. m. slot by the musical variety series "Where the Action Is". The changes to the series did succeed in raising the ratings significantly. For the 1964-1965 TV season, "A Flame in the Wind" received a 2.8 ratings. For the 1965-1966 TV season, "A Time for Us" improved to a 4.0 rating. Unfortunately, ratings then leveled off. Despite the improvements, the soap was still the lowest rated soap opera on the air (other, lower rated soap operas, proceeded to pass it when their ratings