Page 69 - BHTA 100 years

A year of change, a new Director and the Registration Scheme....
Ray Hodgkinson became Director of BHTA in 1999. Here he is pictured with Bill Powell of Marks & Spencer Financial Services discussing pension provision for members.
Just a couple of years after he had been appointed, Trevor Barker left the position of Director and Ray Hodgkinson, who was Membership Development Executive, was appointed as the new Director in August 1999.
At that time, Ray told members: “It is very important that the organisation is adaptable and proactive and able to meet the challenges which face us all in the future. In particular, we need to address the issues of self-regulation and accreditation in order to provide greater con dence in our industry among healthcare professionals and consumers.”
The PHAB Independent Living Design Awards, sponsored by the BHTA took place for the third time. The overall winner this year was the Seahorse Sani Chair from Nottingham Rehab Supplies.
The Government planned to beef up business Codes of Practice as a White Paper, ‘Moderns Markets; Con dent Consumers’ was published. It talked about Of ce of Fair Trading (OFT) approval for a Code, something that will be important for BHTA as its own
Code of Practice develops.
1999 also saw work start on the development of an individual registration accreditation scheme. In a Bulletin article, it stated: “The knock on bene ts in terms of PR and credibility, both to member companies and the BHTA of developing such a scheme are self-evident.”
This year also saw BHTA withdrawing from membership of ABHI, believing that its best interests lay in moving forward as a separate body, but maintaining close links and working together when appropriate.
A new membership category of Af liate Status was also introduced at this time and the membership stood at 320 at the end of the year.
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Memories from...
“Stephen Blatchford
I was Chairman when Ray
Hodgkinson came on Board as Director. It was at a time when we were scratching our heads a little about the future direction
of the Association. I believe
that Ray turned out to be an inspired choice and he has done a really good job representing
the industry and driving the ” Association forward.