Haydock Park

Hospital Patients having a 'Flutter'!
Wed 19th May 10 - 9:52

Patients with a heart flutter will now be able to have a flutter on the horses to relieve the boredom of being stuck in a hospital bed.

Hospital radio stations in Preston and Chorley have become the first in the country to offer horse racing commentary live from Haydock Park.

Avid horse-racing fans will now be able to hedge their bets and find out if their favourite is first past the post from the comfort of their beds at the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble Hospitals.

The idea was the brainchild of hospital radio volunteers who decided to offer live sporting action to relieve the monotony.

They carried out a trial of live horse racing commentary and it was so successful it will now become a regular fixture on Saturdays.

Ian Gornall, sports editor for hospital radio at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We do live football commentary of Preston North End football matches, but we became conscious that we were not offering any other sporting commentary.

"My station manager told me she wanted more sport, so I went and organised live horse racing commentary from Haydock Park Racing Media Group, which owns the race courses, and Haydock Park management, kindly allowed me to go ahead.

"We have been given a private box with a telephone line and a television at Haydock Park and we do all the commentary live from there on race days. As far as I know, we are the only hospital radio station in the country to offer this.

"The hospital radio service that comes through the TV system is free of charge, but if patients wanted to watch the race, they would have to pay for a Patientline card to be able to watch the TV.

"Horse racing is something that we can offer good descriptive commentary on and this can keep hospital patients entertained on a Saturday afternoon when they may not have any visitors."

Joyce Openshaw, 95, who lives in Barton, near Preston, is currently in hospital after suffering a fall. She said: "I used to go to the Haydock Races with my husband, William. He loved horse racing and I enjoyed meeting friends.  We occasionally used to bet on the horses. I think offering horse racing on hospital radio is a very good idea, provided they are, like me, not fools and know how to work it."

A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: "Hospital radio provides an important aid to patient relaxation, comfort and recovery and it beats boredom.

"Hospital radio is staffed by volunteers and we are very grateful for their efforts in providing such a valuable community service."

The hospital racing commentary from Haydock will begin on Saturday May 29 and will run from 2pm until 5pm on race days.