'DISAPPOINTED' volunteers of a hospital radio service running for 40 years say it has been left without a home after it was 'evicted' by NHS chiefs.
Choice Hospital Radio is now in search of a new home after being broadcast at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester since the 1980s.
The volunteers say their kit was dismantled without their knowledge and put into storage.
Since the pandemic, they have been broadcasting from home and now face an uncertain future - unless a new base can be found.
However, bosses at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust say they are still committed to finding a solution.
Run by volunteers, the radio station has moved around the hospital many times as the hospital has expanded and the number of patients increased.
At one time the radio station even operated from a shed and eventually a new studio was built in the Aconbury unit in 2002.
With the works underway on the new A&E unit in the Aconbury building, the radio station was 'evicted by the hospital during the pandemic'.
Volunteer presenters adapted to home broadcasting to keep the station running and ensure live shows through the week which was 'a lifeline during the Covid restrictions'.
The hospital suggested a new radio studio would be developed within the A&E expansion with the main reception of the hospital put forward as a potential base to help meet new audiences.
However, two years later the station still has no new studio and nowhere to go.
Ken Skillen, technical manager for Choice, said: “We are really disappointed by how we have been treated by the hospital after 40 years of service by our volunteers.
"Our custom-built studio was pulled apart and is now sat in storage somewhere and no compensation has been offered”.
Choice Radio chairman Rob Mace said: “We have been looking forward to re-engaging patients after the pandemic and getting back on the wards and welcoming new members to Choice.
"Instead our members are still operating from home and we have been left a redundant part of hospital development.
"Choice Radio is a part of the local community and we want to work with health services to promote wellbeing”.
Matthew Hopkins, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said:
“We are well aware of the concerns raised by the Choice radio team.
“We have been working with them for several months to find a solution to this matter.
"We are committed to working together to find a solution and continuing our long-standing relationship.”
If any community organisation can provide a new premises for a Choice Radio studio please contact rob.mace@choiceradio.org.uk
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