Page 16 - BHTA 100 years

From the First World War to the Second, NHS drives business but price pressures appear...
SIMA grew steadily from its conception and by the time the Second World War took place, the Association was once again very active in ensuring that products from Germany and Japan were not being imported into the country. Meetings with the Board of Trade resulted in the practices being stopped.
In the early 1940’s a good deal of time was spent dealing with a purchase tax issue. Efforts of the representatives from the Association saw surgical instruments and appliances being removed from the tax. A report at the time listed 17 bodies that the Association had met with – a taste of things to come, with many hours of work being undertaken in order to achieve a result.
Health secretary Aneurin Bevan launched the NHS at Park Hospital in Manchester on July 5 1948 and that had an impact on the edging healthcare industry.
By the end of the 1940’s the membership of the Orthopaedic and Surgical Appliance section of SIMA had risen to almost 100 companies. With the NHS in its infancy business seems to have been generally healthy. However, there were concerns from member companies that there had been a ‘constant whittling away of reward for endeavour’. Mr F G Ernst, Chairman in 1949 said: “I think it would be generally agreed that to be successful in life necessitates a spirit of ‘give and take’, but I did write to the Ministry and told them quite frankly that they were taking all and giving nothing. Perhaps that will produce some little better spirit.”
There were also pressures on the companies supplying surgical instruments too as German rms were selling into overseas markets at what was described as very low prices. The war had been over just a few years and British companies were nding it dif cult to compete with Germany, where wages were said to be some 66% less than in the UK.
BHTA 100 years