A bit of history...
Sheffield's hospital radio service started in 1976 when a few volunteers started broadcasting from a small room at the Northern General Hospital, just off what is now the Vickers corridor. The joke at the time was that the studio was so small records had to be brought in one at a time!!
Into the hills
In 1979 a derelict hayloft at Lodge Moor Hospital was made available by the Health Authority. This was stripped, renovated and refitted by the volunteer members of Northern Radio in their own time, to give the station a reception, technical room, broadcast studio, record library, office and kitchen. With the start of the Lodge Moor service, Northern Radio served 7 Hospitals.
In 1982, seeing that the needs of the Childrens hospital were different to the other hospitals that we served, several members of Northern Radio moved on to set up Chrystal Radio , based at the Childrens Hospital. Chrystals aim was to provide programmes more suited to children than Northern Radio was able provide at the time. Chrystal is a separate organisation & charity to HB Sheffield.
In the late 1980's sweeping hospital rationalisations started, with King Edwards being closed quickly and Nether Edge being wound down. Lodge Moor hospital was also marked for closure, and Northern Radio again started to search for a new home. After several false starts, the Royal Hallamshire Hospital offered a former store room at the top of the hospital. This was refurbished by the hospital in early 1998 and then equipped by Northern Radio, to give a reception, record library and main studio.
With the move to the new premises, Northern Radio decided to change it's name to reflect it's city-wide service, to become Hospital Broadcasting Sheffield.
30 years of HBS
In 2006, we celebrated 30 years of broadcasting. To celebrate the landmark a number of events took place in September, including a marathon 30-hour live broadcast, a football match against a team from Hallam FM, and a roadshow in Sheffield city centre.
There was also a reunion of past and present members at the Rutland hotel, and a special link-up programme with BBC Radio Sheffield, presented by Rony Robinson and broadcast from our studios.
HBS is now reaching more patients than ever before through Patientline, and using automation technology we are able to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while still maintaining our reputation for quality programming.
If you would like more details about Hospital Broadcasting Sheffield, please contact us.
