Page 33 - BHTA 100 years

For many years the Association AGM was held in prestigious London hotels.
members of Council securing commitments to act as guarantors from their companies. However, after a period of some months, the Design Council decided that it could not take on the organisation of such a scheme and it was eventually supported by the Royal Society of Arts. A ‘Medic Design Award Scheme’ was launched in September 1983 and BSTA’s name was used to support it.
1982 saw the formation of the Ostomy and Incontinence Products Section, with several new members resulting from the development. Another new Section, Occupational Health and First Aid Products,
was also added.
In his address to members at the AGM in 1982, Council Chairman Mr Ron Frank, of Chas F Thackray, revealed a decline in membership from 198 to 192 companies. He also mentioned a concern about late payment of accounts by the NHS and painted a picture of dif cult trading conditions. He told members: “The outlook is not good. I hope that when we meet again in a year’s time we will be able to report that we are alive and prospering both as individual members and as a Trade Association.”
“Memories from... Ian Sherwood
The Sectional structure of the
Association was what made it attractive to many. In the words of one committed stalwart at the time, the Association’s special appeal was that it provided a forum for those with “dragons to slay or dreams to pursue”. An example was the issue over quali cations of Orthotists, which were not being applied equally across the public and private sectors and which were a major foc”us of attention in the early 1980’s.
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