Stoke Mandeville Hospital

The joint Metropolitan Police Service and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children report of the investigations into sexual abuse committed by disc jockey Jimmy Savile found that Savile, who was a valued fundraiser for the institution (including raising money for the Spinal Injuries Unit), committed offences there between 1965 and 1988. Twenty-two offences there between those dates have been formally recorded as crimes by the police.[10] A former child patient at the hospital has said that nurses warned her to stay in bed and pretend to be asleep when Savile was due to visit.[11]

Michael Salmon, consultant paediatrician at Stoke Mandeville hospital, was convicted and jailed for three years in 1990 for indecent assaults on teenaged girl patients, two thirteen-year-olds and one sixteen-year-old girl.[12] In the aftermath of the Savile scandal, Salmon was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree on 17 December 2013. He was subsequently convicted of nine indecent assaults and two rapes, with victims' ages ranging from eleven to eighteen and having occurred between 1973 and 1988 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Despite working at the hospital at the same time as Savile, there is no known link between the two.[13] Salmon was also convicted of 14 charges in December 2016 and received an additional sentence of four years in prison.[14]

Independent investigator Androulla Johnstone published a report on Savile's activities at the hospital on 26 February 2015. The report found that he had sexually abused more than 50 people there, including staff, patients and visitors; one was an eight-year-old child. Savile had full access to all parts of the hospital. The report stated that it was widely known at the hospital that Savile was a "sex pest", and that 10 complaints had been made at the time, but no action was taken.[15] The report also found that three doctors, including Salmon, had been convicted of sex crimes against their patients in the preceding four decades.[16]

On 27 February 2013, Buckinghamshire disability charity BuDS announced that it was compiling a dossier of evidence about risks to patient safety at Stoke Mandeville hospital to send to the Care Quality Commission. The charity claimed that it had received "alarming reports from various sources ... expressing serious concerns about patient safety at the hospital".[17][18]

Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust responded by saying "it was 'somewhat irresponsible of BuDS to potentially worry patients by hinting at patient safety issues at the hospital". The charity, however, defended its action and said "BuDS wanted to give staff, patients and visitors at Stoke Mandeville hospital a wholly anonymous way to report any concerns they might have".[19]

On 20 April 2013 the CQC published a report after an unannounced inspection at the hospital. It found that the hospital did not meet the standards for staffing levels and for providing support to staff. Enforcement action was taken regarding supporting staff and a warning notice was served.[20]

The facilities at the hospital include:[21]

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio (SMHR) is a non-profit hospital radio station which was founded on 4 December 1978. It is located within the hospital complex and provides a 24-hour radio service to the patients and staff streaming its service online, on 87.7MHz (FM) and through the use of their mobile device app, SMHR which was released in 2015.[25][26][27][23]

The very first broadcast was on 4 December 1978 at 7:30pm.[28] The first sentence was: 'Good evening and welcome to Stoke Mandeville Hospital's very own radio station'."[29]

In 1997, it was one of two hospital radio stations in the UK (the other being Radio Tyneside) to be awarded a temporary AM broadcasting licence from the Radio Authority (became Ofcom in 2003) as part of a pioneering trial as per the then recent passed Broadcasting Act. The success of the experiment led to the station, along with Tyneside Radio and many others, gaining a permanent broadcasting licence.[25][30][23]

In 2018, former mayor of Aylesbury and long-standing patron and co-founder of the station, Freda Roberts MBE JP[31][32] stood down as patron, being replaced by Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce. Ken said "Hospital Radio continues to thrive and I am delighted to take on the role of patron."[33][34]

The station is a volunteer-run not-for-profit charity and has live request shows every weekday from 8pm till 10pm.[35]

On 24 May 2019, SMHR was granted an FM broadcasting licence at 87.7 MHz by the industry regulator Ofcom. The move was linked to Local Radio day, in which the station celebrated with a six hour live broadcast from the Royal Voluntary Services Café in the Hospital.[23]

British entertainer and actor Nicholas Parsons, best known for hosting Just a Minute and Sale of the Century died there on 28 January 2020.[36]

• List of hospitals in England
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Wikinews has related news:

• :Patient in Buckinghamshire hospital was treated in toilet, inquiry hears

• Official website
• Stoke Mandeville Hospital on the NHS website
• Inspection reports from the Care Quality Commission
• Stoke Mandeville Spinal Foundation
• Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio