Wider situations

You can also use the definite article when you and your listener (or reader) share knowledge about things outside your surroundings. So in a particular country you can talk about 'the Prime Minister' or 'the President' or 'the Queen' without mentioning them before, if you are sure that there is only one and that your listener knows this. Similarly, in a town you could refer to 'the hospital', 'the station', and so on, if there is only one, or if your listener will know which one you mean.

“Where have you been?” “ At the hospital.”

I've got to collect my husband from the station.

Wider situation is just an extension of surrounding situation; there is no exact dividing line. But while surrounding situations (section 5) are changing all the time, wider situations are fairly fixed. We each have many of them: the street, the neighbourhood, the district, the region, the country, and so on. And while the surrounding situation is clear to speakers and listeners, sometimes it may not be clear which wider situation is relevant. So if an Englishman mentions 'the Prime Minister' when he is staying in Poland, it may not be clear whether he means the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom or the Prime Minister of Poland.