Page 35 - BHTA 100 years

Mr Frank added: “We are observing a process that is spreading throughout British industry with some areas of activity declining but new areas arising and developing. If our Association is to exist and remain in uential, it must itself accept change, adapt to change, identify opportunities and pursue them.”
A major campaign around Orthotists quali cations had been taking up a good deal of the Association’s time during this period, with complex and lengthy discussions with DHSS taking place for many months. At the beginning of 1982 the Association issued a booklet outlining its position in detail and a number of member companies contacted their constituency MP’s. A written question was tabled in Parliament and the Minister’s reply con rmed that he had received correspondence from 24 MP’s.
One of the Health Ministers involved at the time was Kenneth Clarke who met a small delegation of members in June 1984, but the meeting didn’t seem to lead to any conclusions. It was a good example of how many hours of time and focus could be taken up by an issue that would prove to be very dif cult to conclude.
There seemed to be a degree of frustration at the time as Mr Frank referred to the lengthy meetings: “You may well ask has it been worth all the time and the effort, my unequivocal answer would be yes. BSTA is now known and recognised at a Ministerial level and DHSS also knows that we do not give up easily and are prepared to pursue our legitimate interests vigorously. I am
not a prophet of gloom, but have a rm belief that there will be other issues to be fought in the years ahead. We have learned a great deal from the experience, one of the most important lessons is that we must be pro-active and not purely reactive in such matters.”
By the end of 1984, the number of company members had crept over 200, with 202 being recorded.
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“Memories from... Ian Sherwood
We moved to the infamous Centre
Point building at the junction of New Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, still as tenants of the CBI, where, as a growing Association, we doubled our staff to four and were able to renew”all our equipment.