The Whole Nine Yards Episode 271
With Roy Stannard
On Mid Sussex Radio 103.8FM
Sunday 5.4.26 3-5pm
www.midsussexradio.co.uk/listen
Putting Radio to Bed
Hospital radio in the UK began in the 1920s, when volunteers started bringing live sports commentary into hospitals so patients could follow local football matches. The first recognised service is usually credited to York County Hospital in 1925, where commentary was piped directly to bedsides.
Through the 1940s–60s, the movement expanded rapidly. Volunteers built makeshift studios, curated record libraries, and created programmes tailored to patients’ needs — dedications, request shows, gentle humour, and companionship through long nights.
By the 1970s, hospital radio had become a national institution, with hundreds of stations across the UK. It became a training ground for young broadcasters, a community hub, and a vital wellbeing service long before “wellbeing” was a formal concept.
Today, hospital radio continues as a volunteer‑driven service offering comfort, continuity, and human connection — the very things that matter most when someone is unwell or isolated.
Broadcasters Who Emerged from Hospital Radio
Many of the UK’s most recognisable voices began behind the modest microphones of hospital stations. Some of the most notable include:
Ken Bruce — began at Glasgow Hospital Broadcasting Service before becoming one of the most enduring voices on BBC Radio 2.
Chris Moyles — started at Wakefield’s Broadcast to Hospitals (WBH) before rising to BBC Radio 1 Breakfast fame.
Scott Mills — joined Southampton Hospital Radio at 16, launching a career that led to Radio 1, Radio 2, and national TV.
Huw Stephens — began at Rookwood Hospital Radio in Cardiff before becoming a champion of new music on Radio 1 and 6 Music.
Graham Norton — volunteered at Cork’s hospital radio service before becoming one of the UK’s most recognisable broadcasters.
Simon Mayo — cut his teeth at Southlands Hospital Radio in Worthing before his long BBC career.
Phillip Schofield — began at Hospital Radio Plymouth before becoming a household name on national TV.
Each of them has spoken about the same thing: hospital radio teaches intimacy, empathy, timing, and the art of speaking to one person — not an audience. It’s where broadcasters learn that radio is not a performance, but a relationship.
The story begins in 1972, when volunteers converted a disused butchers shop and a group emerged who converted a butcher’s shop in the grounds of Southlands Hospital, Shoreham-by-Sea, into a tiny studio. The new service was called Radio Southlands, broadcasting just a few hours a week to patients in Southlands Hospital.
In the early to mid eighties it became clear that there was a similar need in the larger Worthing Hospital. This led to Worthing Hospital Radio launching on the 11th April 1986. The first studios were located inside Zachary Merton Hospital, the small community/rehabilitation hospital on the north side of Worthing, before it moved into Park Avenue, close to the main hospital and later into the Adur Civic Centre in Shoreham.
Through the 1980s, the station grew in ambition and profile. As the service expanded to cover Worthing Hospitals, it evolved into Coastway Hospital Radio, reflecting its wider coastal audience and modernised output and extended it service to Sussex County Hospital and the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton.
In 2004, the station rebranded again as Seaside Hospital Radio, the name it still carries today. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day, online and via hospital systems, run entirely by volunteers and still rooted in its founding mission: to comfort, distract, and accompany patients through music, conversation, and companionship.
Hour One
Peggy Lee – “Fever” (Single, 1958)
James Taylor – “You’ve Got a Friend” (Mud Slide Slim, 1971)
The Beatles – “Getting Better” (Sgt. Pepper’s, 1967)
Charlie Dore – “Pilot of the Airwaves” (Where to Now, 1979)
Frank Sinatra – “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!, 1956)
Alma Cogan – “Dreamboat” (Single, 1955)
The Seekers – “Georgy Girl” (Georgy Girl OST, 1966)
Leo Sayer – “Orchard Road” (Have You Ever Been in Love, 1983)
David Soul – “Don’t Give Up on Us” (Single, 1976)
Van Morrison – “And the Healing Has Begun” (Into the Music, 1979)
The Hollies – “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” (Single, 1969)
Hour Two
Mama Cass – “It’s Getting Better” (Bubblegum, Lemonade &… Something for Mama, 1969)
The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows” (Pet Sounds, 1966)
The Beautiful South – “Song for Whoever” (Welcome to the Beautiful South, 1989)
John Miles – “Music” (Rebel, 1976)
ABC – “The Look of Love” (The Lexicon of Love, 1982)
Culture Club – “Time (Clock of the Heart)” (Single, 1982)
Spandau Ballet – “True” (True, 1983)
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – “This Guy’s in Love with You” (Single, 1968)
Glen Campbell – “Wichita Lineman” (Wichita Lineman, 1968)
Adrian Gurvitz – “Classic (Extended Mix)” (Single, 1982)
Sarah Vaughan – “Fever (Adam Freeland Remix)” (Remix, 2025)
Musical hieroglyphics and wonders 