7 June 2011
Paul Burstow, the MP for Sutton and Cheam and the Minister of State for Care Services, took some time out of his busy schedule recently (25 May 2011) to co-present a show on Radio St Helier.
Coming straight from Parliament, where he had just listened to President Barack Obama give a historic speech to both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, Mr Burstow joined forces with the team of volunteers who run the in-house radio station at St Helier Hospital.
After meeting with Karen Breen, the Director of Operations for the Trust, matron Pippa King and two volunteers from Radio St Helier, Mr Burstow officially started his time as a presenter on hospital radio.
The shift began, as usual, with a walk around the wards, collecting song requests from patients. Whilst out on the wards, Mr Burstow stopped and chatted to a number of patients, collecting requests for the show as he went. He also met with ward manager Julia Arkell, who showed him around the coronary care unit.
Once the requests were in, the party returned to the radio station (which is based in the main building of the hospital) where Mr Burstow was hooked up to a microphone and given a pair of headphones. He then introduced songs, such as The Rolling Stone’s Ruby Tuesday which was played for patient Joan, and Nina Simone’s version of Here Comes the Sun.
Mr Burstow said: “Hospital radio can brighten the day of any patient, and the team at Radio St Helier do an excellent job of chatting to the patients to find out what music they would like to hear. Hospital radio is a great way to volunteer your time to make a difference for someone else.”
Karen Breen said: “It was both a privilege and pleasure to be able to show Paul around our hospital and watch as he talked to our patients and took part in the radio show.
“We are very proud of Radio St Helier – which is now in its 41st year – and we are pleased that our patients can tune in for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“On behalf of our patients, Radio St Helier and the Trust, I would like to say a huge thank you to Paul for taking the time to visit our hospital.”
