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Programme Controller Paul Johnston |
This is my blog. I'll keep you up-to-date with progamming news and my views right here.
Keep checking back for my latest posts.
Monday, 7 April 2008 More listeners...
We have had some good news about our coverage in part of the hospital. It has been extremely poor for some time in Oncology, but we've now discovered the cause of the problem and it has been fixed. So, if you or someone you know is unfortunate enough to be on Mersey or Conway wards in Clatterbridge Hospital, you will now be able to find us on Channel One on the bedside system. Unfortunately, there's still no sign of the all singing, all dancing "Patient Power" broadcast system which has been rolled out across most of Arrowe Park. While we wait await its installation, many apologies for the dated plastic pipe headphones that are in use at the moment. Remember that if you need a fresh pair you can contact us on the internal phone system for a replacement.
posted by Paul Johnston # Monday, April 07, 2008
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Happy New Year
Hello and happy new year. It's been a relatively quiet time on air at the station, although behind the scenes there's a lot happening. We are currently looking at developing our relationship with Claire House Children's Hospice, who we don't currently broadcast to. Not only would it widen our audience base, it would also give the youngsters a chance to get involved in radio programming. There are technical and funding issues to overcome, and we need to improve disabled access to the studio, but it would be hugely exciting for the youngsters. As the hospital downsizes due to changes in the delivery of health care, we need to find ways of reaching other potential audiences on the site if we are to secure the future of the station and think about things differently. We've got our AGM next week, and will be asking the membership for their views on the way forward for the station.
posted by Paul Johnston # Sunday, January 13, 2008
Monday, 24 September 2007
Change in the air?
Recent and ongoing changes at the hospital have prompted me to re-think our programming. Because most of our volunteer presenters have full time jobs, the vast majority of our live output has traditionally been centred around evenings and weekends. For example, our flagship request show is on a Saturday morning, and the team do a magnificent job. But the hospital is becoming a ghost town at weekends, as more and more patients are sent home. This is for a number of reasons, including speedier treatment. Years ago, if you had a hernia operation you were in for three or four days. Now, the same operation is carried out by keyhole surgery and you're in and out in a day. That's great news for patients as they're back home quicker, and brilliant for the NHS as it saves money which can be reinvested elsewhere. But it means many wards are now closed on Saturday and Sunday. Throw into the mix the government's plans for "Super Surgeries" which will treat patients in their own neighbourhood, and it's clear to see it could all combine to present Radio Clatterbridge with a major challenge in the future. So, we are going to have to find ways of getting to the audience during weekdays, and concentrate more of our efforts on providing live programming when we know there are more patients in the hospital. That will probably mean taking on more volunteers who are free of a weekday, both to present programmes and visit wards collecting requests. I will also be looking at shifting presenters from the weekend to a weekday. And, with the support of the Trust, we need to start broadcasting not just to the wards but also to public areas that we don't currently reach such as the restaurant and the pre-op assessment centre. There is still a large audience there to be entertained and informed, but we can't afford to stand still and do things the way we always have done.
posted by Paul Johnston # Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Football - bah humbug!
The new football season has arrived - but I am not celebrating. Don't get me wrong, I can cheer along with the best of them, but the midweek European and domestic cup games involving our local sides are a pain in the neck for the Programme Controller at Radio Clatterbridge. Several of our members are season ticket holders at Liverpool and Everton, and when it comes to choosing between attending a big match and doing their programme, Radio Clatterbridge takes a definite back seat! Fortunately, the presenters are pretty good at swapping programmes with their non-football supporting colleagues and tend to sort out the gaps in the schedule among themselves. However, I am one of the few people who cheers when Liverpool or Everton exit a cup competition! Champions of Europe? Bah humbug!
posted by Paul Johnston # Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Radio Clatterbridge is back on the air!
It has taken over three months, but today we finally went back on the air. As is often the case, the engineers still don't exactly know what was wrong. However, they have done a lot of re-wiring and re-routing of cable and a quick check of the wards this evening has revealed that we are once again transmitting to the hospital.
Now comes the job of pulling in an audience again, and our request team will be hitting the wards in the next few days to plug the fact we are back and distribute new leaflets with our programme schedule on.
I did fear that we would lose several of our 30 or so volunteer presenters as a result of being off the air for so long, but that doesn't seem to be the case. A number of them have already called me to tell me they are chomping at the bit to get back on air, and have expressed relief that the wait is over. There is a wonderful loyalty that exists among the Radio Clatterbridge team, and it makes my job a lot easier.
I must say thank you to long-standing member Vic Charles for his assistance and persistence over the last few months in reminding the engineers of the need to sort the fault out, and also to the League of Friends who had expressed concern to the Trust about our situation. The League have been great supporters of Radio Clatterbridge for many, many years and we have been given an awful lot of assistance by Philip Owen and his team. Thanks also must go to Wirral Hospital Trust Chief Executive Len Richards who put one of his engineers on the case with an instruction not to do any other work until we were re-connected!
Normal service has resumed.
posted by Paul Johnston # Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, 21 May 2007
Sore feet!
Fellow member Dave Adams and I completed the 15 mile Wirral Walk in five hours yesterday to raise money for the station. Every single step hurt after the 10 mile mark when my blisters started, and today I am hobbling around like a 90 year old. Fortunately the weather was ideal (unlike last year when it rained constantly) and I've even got a sun tan. Between us we've raised around 235 pounds, which will be used to pay ongoing running costs such as equipment maintenance.
posted by Paul Johnston # Monday, May 21, 2007
Saturday, 12 May 2007
Station still silent
Still no sign of us going back on air, almost six weeks after we discovered the fault. The engineers have been having a good look at it and think they've narrowed it down to a problem with the cable linking the studio with the wards. It has now been decided it is easier to just replace the line rather than checking every inch of it for a problem. But until it's installed, we remain off the air. It's very frustrating, but there is little we can do other than chivvy the hospital along to get it sorted as soon as possible.
posted by Paul Johnston # Saturday, May 12, 2007
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