IN 1927, patients at Darlington Memorial Hospital were given the opportunity to listen to the radio from their beds for the first time because of the generosity of a North-East man.

Thomas Spooner, a radio specialist, installed the first patient radio system at the hospital to relay BBC broadcasts to the wards.

His daughter, Doreen Anderson, 76, from Bishop Auckland, has kept a letter given to her late father by the Shildon Hospital Committee, thanking him for the work he did at the hospital.

Mrs Anderson said: "He worked in a shop selling radio parts and sets, most of which he made himself.

"He approached the hospital and wanted to install a radio system for them. He was a generous and thoughtful man and would always help people.

"When he switched his new system on for the first time the BBC announced it live and thanked him."

The BBC continued to provide the only radio service at the hospital until the launch of its own station, Radio Skerne, in 1984, using 1970s technology.

Now, after more than 30 years, the system that puts patients' requests on the airwaves, is being replaced by the high-tech Patientline.

Patientline incorporates a television, telephone and multi-channel radio. People can choose what they want to listen to or watch using their own control pad.

Patients have to pay to use the telephone and television but get the radio service free of charge.

Later this year the equipment, which cost Patientline nearly £1m to install, will also give patients access to email and the World Wide Web.

The initiative is part of the hospital's drive to improve services in line with Government plans for every major hospital to offer bedside television and telephone services by the end of 2003.

A spokesman for the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust said: "Patientline is about extending patient choice and providing additional services through a partnership between the hospital and the private sector."

Darlington Memorial Hospital is now one of more than 50 to operate the new system.

Derek Lewis, chairman of Patientline, said: "We are delighted to be offering the Patientline service at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

"In other hospitals where the system has been installed we have found that patients really appreciate the additional choice and convenience of having their own Internet, television and telephone facilities."