Royal Free Radio has been running for 54 years but had previously been restricted to Chase Farm, North Mid and Royal Free hospitals

A charity-run radio station that has been broadcasting for 54 years has expanded to cover Barnet Hospital.

Patients at Barnet Hospital are now able to listen to Royal Free Radio, which already broadcasts to Chase Farm, North Middlesex and Royal Free hospitals from its Chase Farm studios.

Royal Free Radio was previously known as Radio Enfield and has broadcast to patients in Enfield hospitals since May 1970, but was re-branded Royal Free Radio in 2017 when it merged with the Royal Free Charity and extended to cover the Royal Free in Hampstead following the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust’s acquisition of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust.

Hospital Radio Barnet had served patients in Barnet Hospital for over 40 years but decided to close at the end of last year, citing “technical difficulties in broadcasting round the wards, the changing nature of patients in the hospital, and other factors”.

Royal Free Radio, however, has devised a way that patients in Barnet Hospital can tune in via their mobile or tablet using the free NHS WiFi within the hospital.

The station provides a service of record requests, interviews, health advice, local features and entertainment 24/7 free to all patients and has a team of around 30 volunteers who present the programmes, handle the technical and engineering side, collect requests from the patients and look after the website.

Patients can tune in to Royal Free Radio from all four hospitals by using the free NHS WiFi and scanning a publicised QR code, or otherwise they can go to royalfreeradio.co.uk/wifi.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.