Page 56 - BHTA 100 years

NHS Supplies. They seemed to want to discuss a series of nancial performance measures which few contractors had the accountancy skills to understand.”
The Section ran a nancial skills workshop which was successful and the NHS Supplies visits were reported to have gone well and were ‘amicably conducted’.
However, the Section was also battling against the NHS in another way. Peter wrote: “It seems to the members of the Committee that the NHS has come to a view that in-house service is always their best option.” Section members had seen a trend towards in-house recruitment.
Peter added: “It is clearly time for the trade to respond, before it is too late, with a solid demonstration of the strengths of the service provided by the private sector.” He reported that a rm of Public Relations Consultants had been approached for advice and would be making proposals.
Following the AGM in 1994, which attracted 120 people, a debate entitled ‘In uencing Change’ was held with a view on getting members thoughts on the next stage of development for the BSTA. The principal speaker at the event was Edwina Currie MP. She told the meeting: “The way BSTA goes about its business seems to me exactly right. In fact, you are to be congratulated on the care and integrity with which you operate.”
She added: “Speaking as a former Minister, I found it worthwhile and interesting to meet Trade Associations and groups who had a point of view to put, particularly if complex legislation was in the offering. Civil servants are only as good as their brief and as the number of hours in the day will permit. They cannot know everything. If, however, proposals are scrutinised in detail by those who will be affected: if regulations are examined by those who will have to make them work – then we might get better law.”
At the end of 1994 we see the rst mention of a Wheelchair Voucher Scheme. A note in the Bulletin suggests that ‘The one outcome that seems the most unlikely is a national prescriptive scheme, with the preferred option most likely to be enabling legislation that leaves local authorities free to make their own choices’.
Income from subscriptions, mainly due to the in ux of new members from BAWD had risen to £119,000, a rise of 31% on the previous year.
BHTA 100 years