AGM 2017 Notice / AGM 2016 Minutes President’s Report ... · 2 Contents 3 Notice of AGM 4 Minutes...

Assuring High Quality Professional Hearing Care

AGM 2017 Notice / AGM 2016 Minutes

President’s Report / CEO’s Report

Financial Report & Accounts

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Contents3 Notice of AGM

4 Minutes of 2016 AGM

7 Report of Election to Council

10 President’s Report to AGM 2017

13 Chief Executive’s Operational Report to the Society

17 Financial Report

AGM 2017 Notice | AGM 2016 Minutes | President’s Report | CEO’s Report | Financial Report and Accounts

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British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists Ltd Notice of Annual General Meeting

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE TWENTY FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL Meeting of BSHAA will be held at Edgbaston Stadium, Edgbaston Road, Birmingham B5 7QU on Saturday 12th May 2018 at 12:00 p.m. for the following purpose:

1. To approve the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 26th November 2016.

2. To receive the report of those elected to serve on Council from 2018 to 2020.

3. To receive the President’s Report.

4. To receive the Chief Executive’s operational report for the Society.

5. To note the intention to consult members on revision to the Articles of Association.

6. To receive the Balance Sheet and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2017.

7. Welcome to the new BSHAA Vice President.

By Order of the Council

12th May 2018

David Foley, Secretary

Registered Office: Office 7, 35 – 37 Ludgate Hill, London EC4 7JN

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Minutes of the Twenty Third Annual General Meeting of BSHAA held at The Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare School, Arlington Manor, Snelsmore Common, Newbury, RG14 3BQ on Saturday 26th November 2016.

199 The Chair The Chair was taken by Mr Peter Sydserff who was supported by the following

members of Council: S Vokes (Vice President), D Foley (Company Secretary), D Welbourn (CEO). Also present, Council members A Coulter, S Godkin, P Harrison, T Rainer, R Kewney, and R Garcia-Medina.

The Chair welcomed the members present. Apologies were received from C Campbell, I Croft, P Nand, N Raithatha and B Perkin (Council Members).

With the commencement of the meeting, the Minutes of the previous AGM, the President’s Report, Chief Executive’s Report, Balance Sheet and Financial Statement Report for the year ended 31 July 2016, all of which had been published and circulated to members, were taken as read.

200 Minutes The minutes of the previous AGM held 14th November 2015 were approved by a show of hands.

201 Election of Council Members (PSy) informed all present that Trevor Andrews is standing down from his role as Chair of Treasury Committee and BSHAA Council, he thanked him for his outstanding contribution to BSHAA through his role within BSHAA People, the Treasury Committee and as a Council member.

There were 4 vacancies on the BSHAA Council. Tony Rainer, Colin Campbell, Ian Croft and Samantha Godkin had put themselves forward for re-election. Steven Edmunds and Robin Gordon, had put themselves forward for election. The Chair declared the following nominees duly elected.

Tony Rainer, Ian Croft, Samantha Godkin, and Steven Edmunds.


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Minutes of 2016 Annual General Meeting


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202 President’s Report (PSy) advised that for the first time BSHAA has elected their Council by electronic voting, stating this was one in a number of measures taken to bring technology into the society, along with webinars to enhance the performance and availability of professional development to support the self-employed and employed within BSHAA’s membership.

(PSy) thanked all concerned for the support he has received within his term of Presidency.

The President’s report was unanimously approved by a show of hands.

203 Chief Executive’s Operational Report (DW) summarised the Chief Executive’s report circulated prior to the meeting

highlighting the desire for the society to integrate with other hearing care professionals and organisations. He also thanked Peter Sydserff for his contribution to the Society during his 2 year presidency and remarked how the Society had grown in strength under his leadership.

There being no questions the Chief Executives report was unanimously approved by a show of hands.

204 Balance Sheet and Financial Statements (DW) gave a short presentation, highlighting the key points within the

Financial Statement, commenting on the launch of the Society’s new website and the difficulties this had incurred. He also commented on the healthy balance sheet and gave reassurance to members that Council would continue to manage BSHAA’s finances wisely, confirming the Society had made a conscious decision to draw on reserves in 2016 to ensure the Society was fit for purpose.

There being no questions the Balance Sheet and Financial Statements was unanimously approved by a show of hands.

205 Welcome to the new BSHAA President (PSy) welcomed Sarah Vokes to the role of BSHAA President, he informed all

present that due to a change in the Articles of Association future presidents will be voted for by the membership who will serve terms of 1 year as Vice President, 2 years and President and 1 year as Past President.

Sarah Vokes thanked Peter Sydserff for his contribution and commitment to the Society during his presidency. She stated it was an honour to be BSHAA President and she looked forward to serving the Society at a time of great change in audiology, ensuring BSHAA has a voice within the industry.

206 Conclusion There being no further business the AGM concluded.

The Chairman, on behalf of the membership and BSHAA Council, expressed gratitude to David and Linda Peel for the time and commitment they gave to BSHAA in Congress, events and marketing, wishing them a long and happy retirement.

The meeting then concluded.

CHAIRMAN

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In line with the Articles of Association, five of the serving directors were required to stand down at the end of the Society’s 2016/7 year leaving five vacancies. For the first time, the new Vice-President was to be appointed democratically by members, rather than by a decision from Council.

Barry Perkin resigned as a member of Council and four of the serving directors, Peter Sydserff, David Foley, Neel Raithatha, and Raul Garcia Medina reached the end of their term of office, each being eligible to stand for re-election.

David Foley and Andrew Coulter stood for election as Vice President to serve the Society for the next 4-years, serving as VP for the first year, the next President for 2 years and Past President on the fourth year.

Peter Sydserff, David Foley, and Raul Garcia Medina stood for re-election and Robin Gordon stood for election as a new director. Successful candidates were to be appointed for 3 years.

Andrew Coulter was duly elected as Vice President, and all four standing for election as directors were duly appointed. It was good to see that we reached over 150 members of the Society in last year’s elections and even more delightful to see that we more than doubled this number voting as we brought real democracy to the selection of the next president to-be.

As the independent company appointed by the Society to manage the election process, ERS have provided the attached confirmation of these appointments, leaving a single vacancy on Council.

Council has been sad to see that both Tony Rainer and Paul Nand have subsequently chosen to resign due to pressure of their business interests which prevents them from serving Council as diligently as they would wish.

Report of Election to Council


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When I had the honour of becoming your President in November 2016, I said that one of my main aims for my time in office was to work much more closely with other professional bodies and organisations.

We are only ever going to truly advance the standing of our profession, reach all of those people who desperately need our care and guidance, and embrace the huge opportunities within our grasp if we work alongside other bodies and organisations.

As a profession, we are more fragmented than many others, and this has perhaps held progress back. We have achieved much over the last decade, but there’s so much more we can do, and we can do it by working together.

I’m delighted to report that we are making great strides in this area. We asked for your views on the possibility of a joint professional development event in 2018 with the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) and the British Society of Audiology (BSA). Feedback was almost wholly positive across the memberships of all three organisations.

Your Society is also in discussions with BIHIMA – the trade association that represents hearing instrument manufacturers in the UK and Ireland – about working with them on fresh ideas for an exhibition and conference in 2018 that focuses on the future of hearing technology.

Council has put the 2018 Congress on hold while we continue our discussions with BAA, BSA and BIHIMA and put together a refreshed professional development programme for members.

Looking back to the 2017 Congress, we had a first-class speaker programme and social events, including the first President’s Golf Day and a fun BSHAA’s Got Talent competition at the gala dinner – if you were there, you’ll have heard my dulcet tones! The event raised lots of money for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and it was a privilege to have Sophie Biebuyck address our gala dinner, who brought along her hearing dog Rustie and spoke passionately about the difference he’s made to her life.

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President’s Report to AGM 2017


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At Congress we also recognised the Society’s latest Fellows following the relaunch of the BSHAA Fellowship scheme. Congratulations to Simon Myhill, an audiologist at The Hearing Care Centre in Ipswich; and Dr Jay Jindal, CEO of Audiology Planet and BSHAA’s professional development consultant. Fellowship demonstrates a professional’s commitment to furthering their development beyond that of the ordinary member and marks their contribution to the Society and the wider profession.

The relaunched scheme allows members to continue with the traditional route of collecting CPD points or to follow a new portfolio system. This sees members collecting evidence across a wide portfolio of activity reflecting not only the development events attended, but also on the level of professional qualification, contribution to the Society and the wider profession. Another round of Fellowship applications closes at the end of September 2017.

There have been lots of other developments over the last year, too.

We staged our first regional development event in Belfast in January 2017 and are looking forward to a professional development day for members in central London in September. Our webinar programme – free for all members – is continuing to deliver quality professional development opportunities in the comfort of your own home.

The Society published a new Consumer Guide to Better Hearing for members to use with their clients. The guide helps members of the public to understand more about hearing and its vital importance to quality of life. It’s available on our website and members can also order print copies from us to use in their practices. I know many members are using them very effectively.

New guidance on obtaining consent was published, which also contains template consent forms for members to adapt and use in practices. And the 2016/17 Customer Care Scheme annual report contained lots of tips and best practice. It is very pleasing that there were only 37 complaints to BSHAA. While we should not


be complacent, members are effectively dealing with complaints themselves as BSHAA only gets involved when the company reaches stalemate with the client. The successful introduction of enrolling all BSHAA members into the Customer Care Scheme means that clients of all our members have access to a free-of-charge conciliation scheme, reinforcing the ‘buy with confidence’ ethos of BSHAA members.

Electronic voting for Council elections was introduced and used for the first time as part of a modernisation. As reported at this meeting, the Vice President of the Society who will go on to become your President in 2019, was directly elected by member vote.

The Society also negotiated exclusive discounts on a range of business insurance policies for members through a partnership with Barry Fenton Insurance. We are also working on a new package for members which will deliver discounts and offers for members at supermarkets, high street stores and more.

As we look to the future, we can do so with confidence. Your Society will continue to advocate for our profession, to make sure our members’ voices are heard and to put the vital importance of hearing at the heart of all we do. There is a growing body of evidence on the link between hearing and quality of life. A new international study in the Lancet has recently shown that looking after your hearing in mid-life is one of the most effective ways of reducing the risk of dementia. The Lancet report shows that a quarter of the risk that individuals can manage for themselves is linked to hearing, and for the first time they raise the importance of addressing this in mid-life between 45 and 65, not simply when it has been left untreated to later life and the damage has already been done. This is a huge opportunity for our profession.

It is a huge privilege to be the President of BSHAA and I would like to thank all members for being part of our Society. Your Council and I know that we cannot achieve any of our goals without your support as members, and I thank you for that.

Sarah Vokes BSHAA President

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It is an unnerving feeling to be preparing the report for our 2017 AGM in April 2018, and more than once I have had to prevent myself from skipping ahead a year.

When we introduced electronic voting for the first time last year, we consciously sought to make the Society more democratic, whilst also providing the Society with greater flexibility to continue improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. With elections conducted electronically and overseen by Electoral Reform Services, highly reputable independent scrutineers, it was no longer necessary for members to be present to approve the new appointments to Council. This decoupling of the officer election process from the AGM gave us the freedom to rethink how future AGMs were to be organised. At last year’s AGM I boldly announced that it would be the last to take place in that form. The switch to on-line electronic voting was a major improvement in democracy for the society, with over 150 members choosing to cast their votes last year and more than 300 this year. Given the particularly low turnout at the 2016 AGM, here was another opportunity to strengthen our democracy by ensuring that the AGM itself was more widely accessible to members. Our only constraint was to meet the statutory requirement to hold the AGM within 12 months of the close of our business year, so we could now hold it at a more convenient time and location. The natural choice was to incorporate it into our planning for congress, which of course moved us nearly 6 months from the usual November date to this current meeting in May.

With change in the sector occurring at an increasing pace, those plans did not remain static for long. As our president has reported, we were already beginning to see the fruits of our efforts to address the unhelpful fragmentation in hearing care. Conversations were progressing well with BAA and BSA about a possible collaborative educational event, with all sides showing considerable appetite for change, and of course that event was actually delivered in February with great success. In parallel with those conversations, we were approached by BIHIMA, the manufacturers association, who felt very strongly that the old style of Congress was becoming stale and needed a new injection of energy and ideas.

Chief Executive’s Operational Report to the Society


This was a dilemma for Council. We fully recognise the importance of our relationship with manufacturers, and that this posed another way of drawing the sector closer together, but we were left with difficult questions. Would we be selling out our independence and professionalism by working with them; should we reluctantly offer to be partners, or should we take the risk and embrace the uncertainty and change which could mark another step-change towards a better and more influential future for hearing care? After serious debate, we chose the latter course, and so we are holding our AGM within BIHIMA’s “The Future of Hearing Technology” event. BSHAA has also worked with BIHIMA to organise the final few education sessions. We chose to complement the theme based on the future of technology with our own look at how future clients might have different social attitudes and behaviours. These are likely to be just as important as technology in influencing the world of hearing care.

Over the last year, closer working in the sector has not been limited to the shared planning of events. We have also seen emergent evidence about the importance and value of taking care of your hearing. The well publicised Lancet Commission demonstrated that there is an important correlation between hearing quality in mid-life and dementia in later life, and the first Cochrane Study into the value of hearing aids reinforced what most audiologists already know, but elevated it into the top flight of respected and trusted research.

BSHAA has continued growing in respect as we have actively been promoting the significance of these messages and working with our colleagues in the Hearing Alliance. Continued success working with NHS England has reinforced the messages that taking good care of your hearing is important and collectively we have ensured that the erroneous assumptions behind the action to decommission provision of hearing aids to many people in North Staffordshire have not been successfully spread more widely. Thankfully none of the other nations have emulated the environment in England in which such local decisions can be made with apparent impunity.

We eagerly await final publication of the NICE guidance on hearing loss – another area in which we have welcomed the thrust of the guidance and the important role

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it should play in driving up the quality and consistency of hearing care whilst also robustly challenging aspects in which we believe the earlier draft was poorly framed. Unfortunately, the historical prejudices which are hopefully being dismantled elsewhere appear to be firmly entrenched in NICE’s attitude to private provision: something we continue to battle on members’ behalf.

I am pleased to report that BSHAA continues to enhance its relationship with HCPC, and we are hopefully about to embark on joint work in clarifying the scope of the protected function, with particular emphasis on the role of hearing care assistants. This will also be a precursor to a review of the standards of proficiency, to ensure they remain compatible with and embrace changes in practice anticipated for next generation instruments capable of remote programming.

During the year, we investigated a complaint against members who had introduced a new business-model to sell hearing aids on-line. As a result of this investigation, we found that their business model did not have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that they were meeting the standards of care demanded by BSHAA’s code of practice or fulfilling their responsibilities to the hearing care profession as a whole. In a public statement, we stressed that BSHAA is open to innovation and disruption that improves availability of high quality hearing care, but not where this threatens to compromise the safety or clinical effectiveness of the intervention, as we found in this instance.

This gave us the opportunity to provide some guidance on how to comply with expectations of good practice if making on-line sales. We stressed that practising audiologists should at all times offer professional guidance to their clients which will enable them to:

• make fully informed decisions about their hearing care needs;

• understand the full implications of their choice of purchase;

• appreciate the importance of seeking professional support to benefit fully from their purchase;

• recognise the value of rehabilitation and the advantage to be gained from professional aftercare.


During the year, BSHAA has also dealt with a few other instances in which members’ quality of practice has come into question. We have made a variety of responses to our members. In one case, we have been able to agree and deliver a process of remediation and support, heading off the prospect of a Fitness to Practise referral to HCPC. In another case, we have investigated a matter, defined minimum levels of remediation required to retain membership, and provided supporting evidence to HCPC outlining this intervention, providing a perspective from the professional body into an FtP referral already made by one of that member’s clients. These practical investigations and remedial interventions complement the successful work of our Customer Care Scheme which has now been expanded to all members who have not decided to opt-out.

On the membership front, I am delighted to report that membership continues to grow, though we still have more work to do to attract student members whilst they are training, and then retain them as they enter practice. During the year, we have made progress in engaging with the Higher Education Institutes running approved training courses. We aim to intensify this in the coming year.

The main benefit we offer to members continues to be grounded in our support and encouragement for professionalism. This takes many forms, including the high quality of articles in BSHAA People, regular topical webinars, educational events providing access to relevant CPD, or through guidance documents such as the newly revised Guidance on Onward Referrals. In the first significant step of providing additional tangible benefits, BSHAA launched its affinity discount scheme. In partnership with Wider Wallet, all members have free access to the chance to recoup more than their annual membership fee each year through discounts available from a wide range of popular retailers, both in-store and on-line. We also have more targeted benefits such as discounted rates for professional indemnity insurance, tailored for the audiologist. We hope that the combination of these benefits will continue to attract more members, so that we can sustain our influence on behalf of the profession and those who look to our members for the best quality of hearing care.

Revision to the Society’s Articles of Association

The Society needs to make some changes to the Articles of Association to ensure that these reflect good practice and continue to allow Council the freedom to run the Society as efficiently and effectively as possible. The proposed revisions will be published in draft form for consultation over the summer, and the final version will be issued for approval at the same time as the next Council elections in October/November.

Prof David Welbourn BSHAA CEO

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As shown in the accompanying annual report, the Society ended the 2016/7 year with a healthy balance of £273k from past investment.

In 2015/6, the Society saw significant progress towards restoring the Society’s operational position back to financial balance, following the decision in 2015 to invest in both the infrastructure and the creation of a professional advisory post. Council had budgeted to complete this progress into financial balance in the 2016/7 year but was disappointed to close the year with an increased deficit despite introduction of tighter financial controls and continued efforts to reduce operating costs. Council now expects to achieve break-even in 2017/8.

The Society’s underlying operating position remains favourable, with continuing growth in membership and further reductions in the core management costs. The poor out-turn is attributable to market trends changing more rapidly than anticipated. Although we had budgeted for the shift away from print-media advertising and for declining attendance at traditional exhibition/conferences, both these changes occurred more dramatically in 2016/7 than predicted.

The year-on-year fall in numbers attending Congress slowed somewhat, but when combined with reduced income from exhibitors and sponsors, income from Congress fell a further £5k more than the £10k fall we had budgeted for. At the same time the costs of organising Congress were around £12k higher than budgeted, despite including an extra £5k to cover the new event management contract which included provision for market research to help inform the anticipated future improvements. The combined effect was a £32k reduction in operating profit of Congress, compared with 2016 which was admittedly significantly more profitable than recent past events. This was nearly double the reduction for which we had budgeted. Income from other development activities was also expected to fall from the previous year, but this had been expected and reflected in reduced costs in education and development.

Reduction in advertising revenue for BSHAA People was even more marked, falling nearly £19k against a budgeted reduction of £6k. Income from the first half in the current year has so far largely held up.

Financial Report


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Looking forward, continued focus on membership, disciplined control of administrative costs, stronger marketing of educational activities and tighter monitoring of the financial position should all contribute to enable the Society to break even in 2017/8.

Work within the sector on development of an apprenticeship programme for audiologists offers an exciting opportunity for BSHAA to become more engaged with educational standards and further increase the Society’s profile of professional leadership. This could potentially open a new income source for the Society, as well as provide greater value to members. Council is very mindful of the associated risks and the possible set-up costs. Should Council decide that it would be appropriate for BSHAA to develop the capacity to support the apprenticeship programme as formal assessors, then it is likely that some investment from reserves will be required. This would only be justified if we could see a strong expectation of a profitable return in future years. Although BSHAA is exploring this possibility, it is likely that any potential investment of this form would fall in the 2018/9 financial year, and would be very tightly capped.

David Welbourn Chief Executive

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AGM 2017 Notice / AGM 2016 Minutes President’s Report ... · 2 Contents 3 Notice of AGM 4 Minutes...

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Transcript of AGM 2017 Notice / AGM 2016 Minutes President’s Report ... · 2 Contents 3 Notice of AGM 4 Minutes...