HBSA Hospital Radio
| City | Kilmarnock |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | University Hospital Crosshouse |
| Frequency | Internal cable system/ Online |
| Format | Hospital Radio |
| Website | http://www.hbsaradio.com/ |
HBSA Hospital Radio, based in Crosshouse, East Ayrshire, is the hospital radio station for Crosshouse Hospital near Kilmarnock, Scotland.
The station has been broadcasting for over 35 years and began by pre-recording programmes on old disco units. Since beginning in the mid 1970s, HBSA has broadcast to Ayrshire Central Hospital, Ravenspark Hospital and Crosshouse Hospital. With only the latter now served. On January 1, 2017 HBSA was available on the Internet at www.hbsaradio.com/live. HBSA is a volunteer-run charity which is dedicated to providing the best possible service to Crosshouse Hospital.
History 1975 to 2009
Hospital Broadcasting Services Ayrshire (HBSA) started life in the mid-1970s. A man called John Barbour, along with his brother and others, had the idea to start a hospital radio station modelled on the HBS in Glasgow. Like the Glasgow station HBSA would serve more than one location from a central point. HBSA would be a volunteer-led organisation and has never had any paid staff. John Barbour worked for the health board as a technician for the telecoms department, because of this he was in a perfect position to install and operate the fixed wire system which would carry the service. The original service reached Ayrshire Central Hospital (ACH), the adjacent maternity unit and Ravenspark Hospital. The service was listened to on a small handheld speaker which needed to be held close to the ear, there were also some speakers with volume controls in the day rooms, in addition to this, impromptu performances by singers and bands were held around the wards, none of these were broadcast.
The first programmes produced by HBSA were recorded onto reel to reel tape offsite. The first shows were mostly aimed at an older audience and often featured country music and Scottish music by artists like Jimmy Shand supplemented with standards by the “ratpack” and the crooners of the 1950s. These programmes were recorded in some odd locations and in a disorganised fashion, some shows were even recorded in the back room of a hairdressers in nearby Saltcoats.
In 1979 HBSA was constituted as a charity with the relevant authority, HBSA would now be run by a committee of trustees, around about the same time rooms were acquired at the gatehouse at ACH. The area had been used as a weighing station for trucks bringing fuel for the hospital heating boiler but were no longer in use, until HBSA vacated the premises in 2009 the reception room had a large cast iron weighing machine which clanked loudly when anyone crossed the attached weighbridge outside. A studio was kitted out with twin turntables, reel to reel tape players and 8 track cartridge players for jingles. A record library was created and there were areas to prep shows and a committee room.
From the “studios” at the ACH gatehouse HBSA began to broadcast live to ACH and the maternity hospital. When Crosshouse Hospital opened in 1985 HBSA began broadcasts there too. The service to Crosshouse was sent up a dedicated phone line, never famous for its quality or reliability. The patients would listen on headphones or speaker boxes. The service grew throughout the 1980s adding members and filling out a schedule which typically ran from around Noon until 10:00 pm with gaps in the HBSA schedule being filled by feeds from Westsound and BBC Radio Scotland. To raise funds, HBSA started doing roadshows and attending various local events to provide PA and music. This was easy for HBSA as a number of presenters were semi professional or full time DJs in the pubs and clubs of Ayrshire, HBSA even purchased a small caravan to operate roadshows from. The money raised helped to repair and replace equipment and to improve the service. The caravan however, met a fiery end at the hands of vandals sometime in the early 1990s.
Through the 1990s HBSA continued to provide broadcasts to ACH, Maternity and Crosshouse. Although the service and studios improved HBSA still had to rely on an old fashioned telephone line to reach Crosshouse, where the most potential listeners were, and the results were never satisfactory, this would be a problem which would never be solved. In 1994 HBSA applied for a grant from the ITV Telethon trust which was successful. This grant allowed an upgrade in equipment again and another improvement in the service. HBSA gained a lot of attention and good press and this led to HBSA being awarded the Scottish Regional Award in the BT (British Telecom) Hospital Radio Awards Scheme. During the 1990s roadshows continued and in spite of the loss of the HBSA caravan, these shows provided a good income for HBSA. During the 1990s HBSA did not foster good relations with Crosshouse Hospital and this would come back to haunt them.
The 2000s turned out to be a pivotal time for HBSA; several different factors came into play which would challenge the service to change or face closure. During the 2000s the radio landscape changed with OFCOM licensing more and more community stations and because of this there became an increasing scarcity in volunteers, and technology would work for and against HBSA.
In the early 2000s HBSA’s studios had developed from tape, vinyl and cartridge and now operated out of one studio which had record players, CD players and minidisc players. HBSA now also had a very rudimentary “off air system” which meant that there was output 24/7 and no longer a need for other stations to fill in. During this period HBSA enquired about moving location to Crosshouse which was refused each time. In 2005 Crosshouse hospital announced that they would install Patientline, a new digital bedside console which would carry Tv, internet and radio to every patient. Radio would be free for patients so this seemed like a great opportunity for HBSA, during 2005–06 the system was installed and immediately this created a huge problem for HBSA. The telephone line used to send the broadcasts to Crosshouse was nowhere near good enough for the job and HBSA was off air. HBSA installed a computer in a plant room above ward 5 and loaded it with music and jingles and for a period of time this was HBSA’s only presence in Crosshouse hospital. To try and cure HBSA’s technical issues the station applied for and got a grant from the AAHB Staff lottery fund for £12,000. HBSA went digital, new mixers, CD players, mini disc players and a whole new station ID provided by the Jingleman organisation. HBSA now started broadcasting to Crosshouse using ISDN technology, John Grant the station manager devised a method of sending a digital stereo signal via a phone line to Crosshouse and HBSA was back on air. But success was short-lived, HBSA was very short on volunteers, and its building was crumbling, there was no money in HBSA’s account and in addition to this there were always problems with the line to Crosshouse breaking down. At this point HBSA’s committee considered the possibility of closing the station down
In early 2009 redevelopment of the ACH campus had started, buildings were being demolished and repurposed in massive shake up of the whole site. HBSA was contacted about the gatehouse building where they had been since 1979, the building was to be remodelled and repurposed as a clinic and HBSA would have to go. Mark Fisher and John Grant managed to convince a very willing AAHB that a relocated HBSA radio could make a valuable contribution to Crosshouse Hospital if they were relocated to that facility. In August of 2009 Brick & Steel contractors completed work on two brand new purpose built studios at Crosshouse which would become the new home of HBSA and on the 17th of October 2009 Mark and John cleared the last of HBSA’s equipment into Mark’s SUV and moved to Crosshouse. After 30 years in Irvine HBSA would restart as a new radio station in Kilmarnock.
Note ;- John Barbour died in Crosshouse Hospital during January 2018 at a reported age of 90 years old.
Current
In late 2009, with low membership and almost no service, HBSA relocated from Ayrshire Central Hospital to new studios at Crosshouse Hospital. HBSA had some good equipment and three broadcasters - John Surgenor, John Grant and Mark Fisher. HBSA quickly started to attract new members and broadcasters and with all the communication problems (see History) behind them HBSA began a new service in digital stereo to every bedside in Crosshouse hospital.
Over the next few years HBSA established itself within Crosshouse hospital as a radio station and a valuable member of the hospital community providing music and chat 24/7 with now its own dedicated custom made recorded playout service in between live shows. HBSA often provides PA and music for events in Crosshouse such as the annual children's ward garden party and the annual volunteers thank you dinner. HBSA has worked hard to make itself a valuable resource in the wider community and has held workshops for adult learning groups and special needs groups to allow them to have practical experience in a working radio station. In late 2017 HBSA established a working relationship with Grange academy (the nearest secondary school to HBSA), this led to four 5th year students occupying a regular broadcast spot on the timetable.
In 2015 HBSA received funding from NHS Ayrshire and Arran Staff Lottery fund for new equipment. This provided HBSA with a brand new studio equipped with Clyde Broadcasts synergie system, this is a modern computer-based broadcasting system. In addition to this HBSA has a second studio which is equipped with an Arrakis Arc-8 mixer, MD player and twin CD and Virtual DJ software.
On January 1, 2017 HBSA launched its online service. Available at www.hbsaradio.com/live and on TuneIn radio and on Apple iTunes internet radio. The service was launched as there was a big dip in users of the hospedia service and free wifi was offered throughout Crosshouse hospital. Since going online HBSA has averaged over 450 listening hours per week.
On September 23rd 2018 HBSA launched a new service that brings live matchday commentary from all Kilmarnock FC home games. In cooperation with the club HBSA has a team of three commentators at the ground and one back in the studios for each match. HBSA uses it's own equipment for this operation and developed the systems for returning the signal to Crosshouse themselves. After a couple of off air reserve game "rehearsals" HBSA went live with it's first game on Sept 23rd with a home game against Celtic which ended in a dramatic 93rd minute winner for Kilmarnock. The service is only available on Hospedia within Crosshouse to start with.
As of March 2018 HBSA Radio has 44 volunteers providing over 90 hours per week of live broadcasting.
Current presenters (up to date as of Oct 2018)
- A.P. Jones (The Beard)
- Adam Lyon
- Alan Sharpe
- Andrew Hewitt
- Carmen Hamilton-Austin
- David Bell
- David Brown
- David Durham
- Dylan Divine
- George Smith (General George)
- Ian Black
- Jed Boden
- Jen McLaren
- John Kennedy
- John Murray
- Johnny Robertson
- John Surgenor
- Julie Findlay
- Kevin McQueen
- Kirsty Kane
- Lenny Harper
- Lewis Malcolm
- Lois Robertson
- Lucy Telford
- Maggie Brown
- Margo Houston
- Mark Fisher (The Jingleman)
- Pat Knapp
- Pauline Bailey
- Paul Williams
- Rod Nelson
- Ronnie Porter
- Sandy Brown
- Sanjeev Mann
- Scott O'Hare
- Shannon Baird
- Simon Jenkinson
- Simon McEwan
- Stuart Boyd
- Square 1 (This is a group of 5th-year students from Grange Academy comprising Kelsie Stoker, Kalum Hair, Kailin Walker & Jamie Robb)
Previous members
Several previous members of HBSA gone onto professional media careers.
- Colin McArdle (West FM)
- Gary Marshall (West Sound AM)
- Jakki Brambles (BBC Radio 1 and GMTV)
- Gavin Wallace (BBC Radio Scotland, Clyde 1 FM & Stadium Announcer at Rugby Park Kilmarnock)
Fundraising
The station raises funds through membership fees as all broadcasting members pay a small annual fee. HBSA also organizes fundraising events. HBSA has begun to take sponsorship for shows and this has become HBSA's principal form of fundraising.
HBSA current sponsors :
- Centrestage Music Theatre - A community theatre arts company
- Gifts In Photos - Personalised photo gifts and garment printing. Arran Mall Ayr
- MobiTyre Of Crosshouse - Garage providing tyres, repairs, servicing and MOTs
- Art'N' Joy of Saltcoats - Picture framer and art gallery
- Vehicles4work.com - Personal and business vehicle contract hire specialists
- Time for you Kilmarnock - Home cleaning company based in Kilmarnock
- Clyde studios Graphic design & signage - Based in Saltcoats
- Karen E Moir Dance & Drama - Dance and drama classes around the Kilmarnock area
- CMH Plumbing - Plumber plus Kitchen and Bathroom design and fitters
- Thistle Help of Irvine - Supplier of Mobility Scooters and small aids.
- G Reid Opticians of Newmilns - Independent local eye care specialist.
- BJ's Autos Of Troon - Car accessories and garage services in Troon