RADIO NIGHTINGALE HISTORY

Hospital radio first began back in the 1920 ’s when broadcasts were only football commentaries.  Today, hospital radio provides a much wider entertainment service carrying music (including patients requests), news, local events, community service information etc. but most stations remain loyal to their roots and continue broadcasts from local sporting events. 

A hospital radio station for the Rotherham District General Hospital was the result of two years planning, research, hope and at times, sheer slog, but in 1978 Radio Nightingale was born.

At one of the first meetings of the original committee the name of the service was high on the agenda. Originally running under the official title of Rotherham Hospitals Radio Service this meeting chose a name which was less of a mouthful! The station was not named after Florence Nightingale as many immediately presume, but in memory of Elizabeth Nightingale who had donated the then princely sum of £1,000 to the Moorgate Hospital to set up a radio station following her hospital stay. The transfer of hospital services to Rotherham District General Hospital took place before the station was off the ground.

A plea for volunteers was placed in the Rotherham Advertiser in February 1978 and miraculously people came forward. After just three months of training, the original Nightingale crew went on air on 4 June 1978. The original plan had been for the 31 st of May, only a minor technical hiccup of the mixing desk not arriving held up proceedings. Dave Marriott was thrown in at the deep end with the new equipment to be the first Radio Nightingale presenter at 7pm.

Originally broadcasts were restricted to three evenings a week and Sunday mornings, six years later the schedule was expanded to broadcasting a few hours every day, it was a further fourteen years before broadcasting was extended to all day, every day.

At first the broadcasts were only to the patients of the Rotherham District General Hospital by way of the bedside headset units. A Post Office Landline (now know as a BT landline) was hired in 1981 to allow the patients of the Doncaster Gate Hospital to receive Radio Nightingale programmes as well. A second landline, to the Montague Hospital in Mexborough was installed in 1983, both remaining in action until the closure of the hospitals to in-patients. In the early 1990’s members raised a massive £25,000 for the installation of an inductive loop system which allows Radio Nightingale programmes to be received on a standard transistor radio on the frequency of 945mw. In July 1998 the Radio Authority, now OFCOM, announced the provision of low powered freely radiating transmission licences to all single site radio stations. Radio Nightingale was granted one of these licences on the frequency of 1350mw with broadcasts beginning on May 11 th 1999. One year later the Patientline bedside entertainment units were installed at Rotherham General Hospital. With Radio Nightingale joining the line-up of the free radio channels available on the system.

Radio Nightingale continues to broadcast on 945 and 1350mw and Patientline, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with live programmes produced by volunteers as far as possible and the remainder generated by computerised equipment. The types of programmes available to the bedsides of the patients of Rotherham General Hospital vary depending on the individual presenters technical skill and knowledge. Some presenters have an extensive knowledge of a particular subject or music area which can be used to provide a programme of special interest.

All programmes produced on Radio Nightingale feature patients’ requests as a primary focus. These requests are collected directly from the wards by Radio Nightingale volunteers and are also encouraged from friends and family by telephone or email. As a general hospital the demographic profile of the patients’ is varied which in turn brings a wide range of musical tastes to be accommodated in requests. Research conducted by psychologists at Glasgow Caledonian University concluded that listening to chosen music has the ability to increase feelings of control and help fight pain. We regularly receive feedback from patients regarding the benefit of our music including one person who wrote: “I was recently a patient in RDGH and I must write to you all to say how much I enjoyed listening to your music particularly during the night time when I couldn’t sleep. The music was for all ages and took me back to my teenage years. Please keep up this good work”.

When volunteers are not available pre-recorded programmes are produced by computerised equipment. A spell in hospital can be extremely isolating and disorientating therefore also included are the latest events from the ‘outside world’ in news, sport, entertainment etc. Radio Nightingale incorporates broadcasts from a variety of locations in programmes, including St Leonard’s Church in Dinnington who held a special service as part of the 30 th anniversary celebrations of the service. Other events include Carols by Candlelight from the Rotherham Minster, recording of poetry and prose from the writers of WEA classes and Metro Writers to form a weekly programme and reports and commentaries from Rotherham United FC home games.

Hospital Radio provides a unique service not available from any other source.