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Hospital radio

December 18, 2023

Hospital radio is a form of audio broadcasting produced specifically for the in-patients of hospitals, primarily in the United Kingdom. Hospital radio has been found to be beneficial to patients, lifting their mood and aiding recovery.

Typical hospital radio studio

There are hundreds of hospital radio stations in the UK, almost all are members of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA), which was set up by stations for their mutual benefit and does not govern or run them. Hospital radio stations are staffed and managed by volunteers.

History edit

 
Vinyl LPs in Walsall Hospital Radio's record library

The earliest known hospital radio station officially commenced operation in the Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, D.C., in May 1919. It was originally planned for installation in 1918 at the American "Base Hospital near Paris"; no evidence has come to light that it was set up there, so it is assumed that the First World War ended before this had been completed and that it was instead installed at Walter Reed.

The first in the United Kingdom was installed at York County Hospital, England, in 1925. Headphones were provided beside 200 beds, and 70 loudspeakers were installed, with patients being able to listen to sports commentaries and church services. Throughout the 1930s radio stations began operating in a handful of other hospitals, with live music supplementing the speech-based programmes. Unsurprisingly, almost no new stations were started during World War II, the sole exception being on Jersey where a service was set up to relay church services, musical recitals, variety shows, and programmes for children to nine hospitals after wireless receivers had been banned and confiscated by the German occupying authorities.

The spread of hospital radio services picked up slowly in the late 1940s. The 1950s saw a rapid growth in their number in the UK, with similar stations opening in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. Many stations now played gramophone music to patients and, with the launch of the cassette tape in 1963, it became easy for presenters to record their programmes for playback at a later date.

Hospital radio stations peaked in number in the 1980s, when up to 300 stations are thought to have been broadcasting on a daily basis. However, as small hospitals closed or merged to form large regional medical centres, hospital radio stations also consolidated into a smaller number of larger organisations. New studios were built, often to a high specification, and in common with commercial radio, hospital stations began to use CDs to play music.

Many now use a computer play-out system and are broadcast to patients bedsides via the TV and radio systems found on patients bedsides. Southend Hospital Radio in particular has switched from broadcasting via play-out systems to broadcasting via internet-enabled devices.

Transmission edit

In the past, hospital radio tended to be delivered to patients' bedsides by way of a dedicated cable link from the in-house studio to a unit beside every bed. In some cases, this unit would have supplied only the hospital radio station; in others, a choice of broadcast radio stations may also have been available. Today, higher quality bedside entertainment systems supplied by third-party companies such as Hospedia (formerly Patientline), Premier Bedside and HTS (formerly Hospicom) carry many [1][2][3] stations in the UK. Others are broadcast from a central radio transmitter, by virtue of a low-powered AM or FM licence. Many hospital radio stations also broadcast over the Internet.

Organisation edit

Each hospital radio station was founded independently and they are not centrally organised or managed. Almost all are members of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA), which was set up by stations for their mutual benefit and does not govern or run them. Most in the UK are registered charities, others are part of larger organisations such as hospital Leagues of Friends.

Hospital radio stations are staffed and managed by volunteers (more than 2,500 in the UK alone), and each volunteer is commonly attached to a particular weekly programme. Some broadcast, others work to keep the station's record library or computer systems up-to-date, but most also visit the hospital wards, to discuss the music that patients would like to hear, and to provide an opportunity for the latter to converse with a member of non-medical staff.

Many stations use sophisticated computerised playout systems for music and jingles. Live programming is limited to the times that stations' volunteer members can attend studios - generally evenings and weekends - but many stations offer a 24-hour service by using computerised systems to play music and prerecorded programmes at other times.

There are more than 230 hospital radio stations in the UK, and 170 in the Netherlands. Others operate in Germany, France, Norway, Australia, United States and New Zealand.

Many professional radio presenters volunteered for hospital radio in their early career, as it provides a training ground for budding broadcasters. Such broadcasters include:

Hospital radio awards edit

Each year, the UK-based Hospital Broadcasting Association, invites its member stations to submit entries in ten categories. Entries are assessed by a panel of judges drawn from professional broadcasting.

Notable people who started in hospital radio edit

References to hospital radio in popular culture edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Hospedia York Hospital
  2. ^ Hospedia Newcastle Hospitals
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  4. ^ Sunshine Hospital Radio
  5. ^ Bronglais Hospital Radio
  6. ^ Kidderminster Hospital Radio 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Tonight's TV: The Ricky Gervais Show (XFM)". the times.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  8. ^ "Whatever happened to hospital radio?". BBC News. 3 September 2012.

External links edit

  • "Member Stations". Hospital Broadcasting Association.
  • "Whatever happened to hospital radio?" BBC, 3 September 2012
  • "Hospital Radio". Radioline.

December 18, 2023
hospital, radio, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, october, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Hospital radio news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Hospital radio is a form of audio broadcasting produced specifically for the in patients of hospitals primarily in the United Kingdom Hospital radio has been found to be beneficial to patients lifting their mood and aiding recovery Typical hospital radio studioThere are hundreds of hospital radio stations in the UK almost all are members of the Hospital Broadcasting Association HBA which was set up by stations for their mutual benefit and does not govern or run them Hospital radio stations are staffed and managed by volunteers Contents 1 History 2 Transmission 3 Organisation 4 Hospital radio awards 5 Notable people who started in hospital radio 6 References to hospital radio in popular culture 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksHistory edit nbsp Vinyl LPs in Walsall Hospital Radio s record libraryThe earliest known hospital radio station officially commenced operation in the Walter Reed General Hospital Washington D C in May 1919 It was originally planned for installation in 1918 at the American Base Hospital near Paris no evidence has come to light that it was set up there so it is assumed that the First World War ended before this had been completed and that it was instead installed at Walter Reed The first in the United Kingdom was installed at York County Hospital England in 1925 Headphones were provided beside 200 beds and 70 loudspeakers were installed with patients being able to listen to sports commentaries and church services Throughout the 1930s radio stations began operating in a handful of other hospitals with live music supplementing the speech based programmes Unsurprisingly almost no new stations were started during World War II the sole exception being on Jersey where a service was set up to relay church services musical recitals variety shows and programmes for children to nine hospitals after wireless receivers had been banned and confiscated by the German occupying authorities The spread of hospital radio services picked up slowly in the late 1940s The 1950s saw a rapid growth in their number in the UK with similar stations opening in Japan the Netherlands and the United States Many stations now played gramophone music to patients and with the launch of the cassette tape in 1963 it became easy for presenters to record their programmes for playback at a later date Hospital radio stations peaked in number in the 1980s when up to 300 stations are thought to have been broadcasting on a daily basis However as small hospitals closed or merged to form large regional medical centres hospital radio stations also consolidated into a smaller number of larger organisations New studios were built often to a high specification and in common with commercial radio hospital stations began to use CDs to play music Many now use a computer play out system and are broadcast to patients bedsides via the TV and radio systems found on patients bedsides Southend Hospital Radio in particular has switched from broadcasting via play out systems to broadcasting via internet enabled devices Transmission editIn the past hospital radio tended to be delivered to patients bedsides by way of a dedicated cable link from the in house studio to a unit beside every bed In some cases this unit would have supplied only the hospital radio station in others a choice of broadcast radio stations may also have been available Today higher quality bedside entertainment systems supplied by third party companies such as Hospedia formerly Patientline Premier Bedside and HTS formerly Hospicom carry many 1 2 3 stations in the UK Others are broadcast from a central radio transmitter by virtue of a low powered AM or FM licence Many hospital radio stations also broadcast over the Internet Organisation editEach hospital radio station was founded independently and they are not centrally organised or managed Almost all are members of the Hospital Broadcasting Association HBA which was set up by stations for their mutual benefit and does not govern or run them Most in the UK are registered charities others are part of larger organisations such as hospital Leagues of Friends Hospital radio stations are staffed and managed by volunteers more than 2 500 in the UK alone and each volunteer is commonly attached to a particular weekly programme Some broadcast others work to keep the station s record library or computer systems up to date but most also visit the hospital wards to discuss the music that patients would like to hear and to provide an opportunity for the latter to converse with a member of non medical staff Many stations use sophisticated computerised playout systems for music and jingles Live programming is limited to the times that stations volunteer members can attend studios generally evenings and weekends but many stations offer a 24 hour service by using computerised systems to play music and prerecorded programmes at other times There are more than 230 hospital radio stations in the UK and 170 in the Netherlands Others operate in Germany France Norway Australia United States and New Zealand Many professional radio presenters volunteered for hospital radio in their early career as it provides a training ground for budding broadcasters Such broadcasters include Andrew Edwards now of BBC Radio Leeds was previously with Kingstown Radio the Hospital Radio service in Kingston upon Hull Daniel Fox now of Heart Hertfordshire was previously with Hospital Radio Ipswich Paul Moseley now of BBC Radio Norfolk was previously with Hinchingbrooke Hospital Radio in Huntingdon James Dundon now of Heart Cornwall was previously with Cornwall Hospital Broadcasting Network Jon White now of Radio Plymouth was previously with Hospital Radio Exeter Ben Clarke now of Radio Exe was previously with Hospital Radio ExeterHospital radio awards editEach year the UK based Hospital Broadcasting Association invites its member stations to submit entries in ten categories Entries are assessed by a panel of judges drawn from professional broadcasting Notable people who started in hospital radio editKen Bruce presenter Greatest Hits Radio worked at HBS Glasgow Simon Clark sports presenter BBC Look North worked at Kingstown Radio Jill Dando presenter BBC worked at Sunshine Hospital Radio 4 Philip Glenister actor Life On Mars Ashes To Ashes Nick Hodgson Kaiser Chiefs drums Aled Haydn Jones head of BBC Radio 1 worked at Bronglais Hospital Radio 5 Tim Key comedian worked at Kidderminster Hospital Radio 6 Simon Mayo presenter Greatest Hits Radio worked at Southlands Hospital Radio Jason Mohammad presenter and newsreader BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Wales Today Wales on Saturday worked at Radio City 1386AM The ABM University Health Boards Radio Service in Singleton Hospital Swansea Chris Moyles presenter Radio X worked at WBHS Wakefield s Broadcast to Hospitals Service Christian O Connell presenter Gold 104 3 Andrew Peach presenter BBC Radio Berkshire Karl Pilkington presenter actor author and former radio producer 7 Simon Rix Kaiser Chiefs bass Phillip Schofield presenter worked at Hospital Radio Plymouth Amanda Sergeant presenter GMTV worked at Radio City 1386AM The ABM University Health Boards Radio Service in Singleton Hospital Swansea Huw Stephens presenter BBC Radio 1 worked at Rookwood Sound Hospital Radio Jeremy Vine presenter BBC Radio 2 worked at Durham Hospitals RadioReferences to hospital radio in popular culture editIn Coronation Street a British ITV soap opera a new character Geoff Metcalfe a volunteer with Weatherfield Hospital Radio is introduced as a love interest for Audrey Roberts Takin Over the Asylum a six part television drama about the development of a radio station in a psychiatric hospital The BBC radio comedy Radio Active featured Michael Fenton Stevens playing an incompetent hospital radio trained presenter He was carried over to the TV spin off KYTV Fictional character Alan Partridge is said to have begun his radio career on Radio Smile at St Luke s Hospital but left following arguments with patients 8 The League of Gentlemen character Mike King is a DJ at the local hospital Top Gear made a reference to hospital radio notably Songs You Can t Play on Hospital Radio The two songs mentioned were The Verve s The Drugs Don t Work and Cutting Crew s I Just Died In Your Arms Friday Night Dinner made a reference to hospital radio saying Adam Goodman made the music for an advert on hospital radio Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Horizon 5 has hospital radio as a radio station you can listen to in your car BBC Scotland s Still Game features Hospital radio in Series 4 Episode 2 2005 in which character Tam goes away on holiday and main scallywags Jack and Victor take over from him as D Js running the local hospital radio service and acquire themselves quite a fan club See also edit nbsp Radio portalList of hospital radio stations in the UKReferences edit Hospedia York Hospital Hospedia Newcastle Hospitals Premier Bedside Royal Cornwall Hospitals Archived from the original on 2013 03 23 Retrieved 2012 08 15 Sunshine Hospital Radio Bronglais Hospital Radio Kidderminster Hospital Radio Archived 2008 12 27 at the Wayback Machine Tonight s TV The Ricky Gervais Show XFM the times co uk Retrieved 2010 04 17 Whatever happened to hospital radio BBC News 3 September 2012 External links edit Member Stations Hospital Broadcasting Association Whatever happened to hospital radio BBC 3 September 2012 Hospital Radio Radioline Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hospital radio amp oldid 1179184187, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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