“I’ve being doing hospital radio in Edinburgh for 60 years - we get some wonderful letters from patients”
Watch 75-year-old Malcolm Kirby explaining how he began hospital radio when he was a student in Edinburgh.
One of Britain's longest serving hospital radio DJs has been given an MBE - after playing songs to patients for 60 years.
Malcolm Kirby, 75, began volunteering at Red Dot Radio at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital in the late 1960s. And he's still going between 8am and 10pm weekdays - broadcasting across hospitals in the city.
He began hospital radio while studying electrical engineering at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University. As Malcolm's career in engineering flourished, he continued to return at least once each week to maintain the equipment, take song requests from patients, and run his radio show.
Over the years, Malcolm has played thousands of songs. He says some of the most popular requests include The Proclaimers, Frank Sinatra and Neil Diamond.
He said: "It goes back to when I was a student. I got involved with the Student Television Society, and one of the leading lights there was Dave Jamieson, who was also the programme director of the local hospital radio - he got me involved and I never left.
"I've done most of the technical work over the years - certainly since the mid-80s, and since then, I've designed and built the studios that we use.
"As part of our regular work, we go round the wards to visit the patients and explain that the service exists. We show them how they can listen on the bedside entertainment equipment, then we come back to the studios, make up the programme, and present it on our request show."
Malcolm and the rest of the team - around 20 volunteers - have previously worried that advancing technology would put their show at risk, but patients are still keen to listen.
During the COVID lockdown in 2020, Malcolm says the radio helped patients to communicate with family members after the station became available to listen to online, allowing relatives to listen to the requests from home.
Malcolm said: “We get some wonderful letters in from the patients. When lockdown was on, of course, there were no visitors.
"I was privileged to be allowed to visit the wards, so I came in a couple of times a week, collected requests, and then we set up broadcasting from home. It peaked during lockdown, when people found the service valuable, because family and friends could listen at home."
Tastes have changed over the years - but Malcolm says patients still request the classics.
The most listened to song of 2025 was The Best by Tina Turner, taking over the top spot from Sunshine On Leith by The Proclaimers.
Malcolm said: "For many, many years, it was always Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'. He got toppled off when Susan Boyle came along. After that, it varied - then Hibs won the Scottish Cup, so we got the Proclaimers in."
This year, unbeknownst to Malcolm, his fellow committee members nominated him for an MBE - which he was awarded earlier this month.
He said: "It was a total surprise. I had no idea until the letter came through the letterbox. Of course, it says you're not allowed to divulge anything until the official release of the list, and I had no idea where it had come from, so I didn't speak to anyone!
"I went into one of the wards last week, and the nurse greeted me with a congratulations and a big hug, which I thought was rather nice."
Currently, after 60 years of service, Malcolm has no plans to stop running the show anytime soon - and says that more people should get involved.
He said: "We get a lot of messages from patients saying that it's something to look forward to; it takes their minds off why they're here.
"It was a tremendous honour to be awarded the MBE, but to me, it says that people recognise that hospital radio is still a valuable thing."
The top five song requests of 2025
1. The Best by Tina Turner
2. Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers
3. Hotel California by The Eagles
4. Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra
5. Dancing Queen by ABBA