Page 64 - BHTA 100 years

Independent Living Awards, another new name and a ‘hard-hitting’ plan...
In 1997, the Independent Living Design Awards became a joint project between BSTA and PHAB. The overall winner was the Enterprise toilet seat from Gordon Ellis. Other winners included the Handy Pillowlift from Mangar International, the Minivator 2000 Stairlift from Sunrise Medical, the Swash Orthosis from Camp and the Lever Tap for drainage bags by Simpla. The winners were announced by TV personality, Bob Holness.
It was a period when there was plenty of discussion and debate about the impending CE Mark legislation that would come into force on 14th June 1998, after which it would be illegal to sell medical devices without the CE Mark. It’s clear from the coverage in Section minutes and the Bulletin that a number of companies were struggling with the implementation.
Phil Naylor, a Management Consultant, wrote in the Bulletin: “The implementation of the Directive is not a simple matter of pulling together a few technical documents and implementing a conventional ISO 9000 system. It needs careful thought and great attention to detail, coupled with good planning, preparation and a structured and disciplined approach if you are to succeed.”
At the beginning of 1998 the spotlight was once again on what the Association should be known as. Chairman Stephen Blatchford wrote: “There is absolutely no doubt that the majority of members consider the Trade Association’s name no longer
Memories from...
“Stephen Blatchford
I remember that the general
view of the name BSTA had outlived its usefulness as the surgical trades were a very small part of
what BSTA did at the time. We tried
to come up with a name in lots of Council meetings and ended up with ASPN, mainly because we couldn’t think of anything better. We took it to the AGM but it wasn’t something that members were very positive about. Then a member, Philip Charlton- Smith, suggested that all we had to do was to change the ‘S’ to a ‘H’ and replace ‘surgical’ with ‘healthcare’ and become the British Healthcare Trades Association. Everyone in the mee”ting rather liked that and the rest is
history!
BHTA 100 years