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The Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy was held on September 22, 1993, at Queen’s University Belfast. Mrs Joyce Wise, a vice-president of the Society, presided, and about 300 members attended.

Before starting the meeting Mrs Wise read a message from the Queen, sending good wishes in response to greetings from the Society.

The minutes of the previous AGM held in Glasgow on October 8, 1992, were confirmed without comment.

Annual Report Patricia Phillips, chairman of Council,

proposed adoption of the annual report which had been published with the May Journal. She looked back on the past two years, during which she had been chairman, and fowards towards the future of the profession, which would be the subject of a special conference early next year.

Mrs Phillips did not claim that the profession had emerged entirely unscathed from the overload of changos in recent years, but she emphasised that clinical skills remained vital to health care delivery.

The membership of the Society and the numbers employed in the NHS continued to grow. More young people than ever were entering physiotherapy education and the Centenary year would be the first in which every new physiotherapist was a graduate. Mrs Phillips was confident that physiotherapy would remain in demand.

Service Marketing However, it was necessary to provide

services in a way that was attractive to all purchasers and every purchasing authority must be convinced of the importance of a comprehensive and effective physiotherapy service.

‘It is also important to develop the relationships within the hospital and community teams so that all the other professionals in the Health Service know what we can offer to their patients and how they can best work together with us’, said Mrs Phillips. ‘We cannot afford the luxury of overlapping services or the damage to patients that gaps can cause.’

Mrs Phillips reminded members that there were many other purchasers of physiotherapy services as well, particularly general practitioners. In a long debate the previous week Council had emphasised the importance of effectively promoting the value of chartered physiotherapists to general practitioners. Patients themselves were also important purchasers of services, who had chosen physiotherapy rather than one of the other professions that offered to treat their condition.

The recession has led to a drop in the coverage of private medical insurance, but Mrs Phillips welcomed the decision of Private Patients Plan to extend coverage to patients referred by general practitioners, for which the Society had long been pressing.

Many members were also developing innovative services and selling them to new

purchasers. Some of these arose from changes in the NHS and in community care, and others represented developments of the treatment and preventive expertise of chartered physiotherapists into new areas, particularly in industry. The new European directives and UK legislation, particularly on moving and handling and on visual display unit operators, had opened up particular opportunities.

‘The common theme through all these different ways of providing services is that

Members take a break between lectures

purchasers want flexibility, and they want services that meet the needs that they define. For too long we professionals have been inclined to a “we kown best” attitude. Yes, we are the clinical experts - but we must listen to what our patients and their representatives tell us both in the clinical situation and outside it’, said Mrs Phillips.

‘The move towards purchaser-driven services, and the empowerment of the consumer may give us some uncomfort- able moments: but in the long run it can only be valuable to have knowledgeable partners who can help us target and deliver our services.’

Quality The Society had also done much to help

members in their drive for quality services, she continued. With the Clinical Interest Groups it had produced a wide range of standards for quality clinical services; and members were participating actively in audit activities at local level. The Society’s work had gained international recognition and this augured well for the future.

Mrs Phillips admitted that changes in the NHS had posed particular challenges. She deplored many cases in which senior

managers, in particular, had been made redundant. Not only had this often been done unnecessarily harshly and led to great personal trauma for the individuals involved, it also represented a significant weakening of the profession’s leadership, both locally in the district affected and more widely.

When the chairmen of the professions allied to medicine met the chief executive of the NHS recently. they had impressed their concern about this on him, and Mrs Phillips pledged that the Society would continue to look for other avenues to raise the general principle as well as supporting the fight of individual members to retain their jobs.

‘We should recognise, however, that many members have taken up posts in general management or in purchasing, where they can use their professional skills to influence change in a way which can only be seen as positive’, she added.

Student Placements Mrs Phillips said the Society was also

concerned about clinical placements. The NHS Management Executive had dithered for the past three years about whether units that provided clinical placements should charge the schools for them. Eventually it had decided to have no policy, and the matter would be left to the Regions. In the meantime, many heads had found it increasingly difficult to persuade provider- units to make placements available.

The Society would continue to press Regional Health Authorities to ensure that enough good placements were available. ‘We will not hesitate to use our Charter powers, jointly with the Physiotherapists Board’s statutory powers, to ensure that courses continue to meet the require- ments of a clinically-based professional education’, she assured members.

Industrial Relations The Society had also had to respond

to attempts to de-recognise unions, to changes for the worse in terms and conditions of service, and to some suggestions for skill mix that threatened effective patient care.

Members, stewards, and the CSP industrial relations staff in particular had responded very effectively to these changes.

For the second year running the Govern- ment had announced a restrictive public sector pay policy. Physiotherapists in the NHS, and those elsewhere whose pay was linked to the Health Service, deserved a fairer reward.

A survey undertaken by the professions allied to medicine Staff Side for the Pay Review Body had found that staff were working harder and longer than ever. NHS physiotherapists, for example, worked an average 3% hours unpaid and seven hours paid overtime every week. Over half were unable to take adequate meal breaks, and

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Above: Barry Barton, project manager, Bradford and Airedale College of Health, with Selina Holtby, assistant registrar to the Physiotherapists Board

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threequarters were not confident about job security. The same proportion believed that their work area was not adequately staffed. Not surprisingly eight out of ten found their work stressful, although the majority still found treating patients satisfying.

‘Physiotherapists are committed to the work they do, but this commitment must not be taken for granted, and neither is it bottomless’, warned the chairman. ‘NHS physiotherapists are becoming increas- ingly frustrated at lack of resources and inadequate levels of pay. This year’s proposed pay restrictions, which will be the subject of an emergency Conference motion, are unjust and unjustifiable and will do nothing to improve morale.’

Mrs Phillips referred to discussions with other professions interested in working together on the trade union front, although some had taken another course and progress had not been rapid.

Jocelyn Prudence, a long-standing member of the CSP Industrial Relations Department, had recently been elected as secretary of the Staff Side of the Whitley Council that covers physiotherapists.

The Society’s delegates had returned recently from the TUC, where they had successfully moved motions on flexible working, which attracted wide support within the trade union movement, and on community care. The Guardian had reported that Ruth Jones’ plea for better child care, as part of the debate on the economy, drew loud applause from the delegates; and the whole team had been interviewed by the BBC television. ‘We hoped that joining the TUC would raise the profile of the profession, and this year’s Congress has certainly done that: said Mrs Phillips.

Centenary Themes Council had agreed that a major theme

for the Centenary year, 1994, would be to advance the profession’s campaign for the protection of title. The Government had adopted delaying tactics, showing that it had little interest in protecting the public from unregistered physiotherapists, even though it had given considerable support to the Osteopaths Bill.

‘We have to go it alone, and we will be calling on each and every one of you to help join our campaign, to emphasise the importance not only of protecting the title of physiotherapist but to ensure that the law is brought up to date so that it really does protect the public.’

The Centenary year would also present many other opportunities to promote physiotherapy and get some important messages across. A series of conferences would look at physiotherapy and back pain, incontinence, electrotherapy, and massage. The chairman hoped that many members would be able to attend and contribute to conferences which might help establish a framework for physio- therapy in future, and that managers would encourage them to do so.

She also hoped that large numbers of members would take part in the social events at local, regional and national level which would mark the Centenary. This was a unique opportunity.

Mrs Phillips concluded with thanks to members, staff, and the 15 retiring Council

Patricia Phillips. chairman of Council, who presented the annual report

members: and offered good wishes for the future of the Society.

Adoption of the Annual Report was seconded by Derek Field and carried unanimously.

Balance Sheet and Accounts Patricia McCoy, vicechairman of Council

and chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, proposed adoption of the balance sheet and accounts for 1992. She was pleased to report another year with a satisfactory financial outcome.

‘As anticipated and planned, expenditure was greater than in 1991 mainly because of the development of the Industrial Relations and Professional Affairs Departments; the staff of both depart- ments have been increased to provide the improved services which members need to help them in dealing with rapidly changing circumstances’.

While the additional expenditure was substantial, as the accounts demonstrated, Mrs McCoy said she had no doubt that the value obtained from it was even more substantial and that the money had been well spent.

Mrs McCoy was pleased to report that income had increased to meet this increased expenditure, partly from increased subscriptions and partly from increased membership. The total subscribing membership in 1992 was 25,408 which was about 1.5°/o more than a year before, and 6% more than four years earlier. Thus the rate of increase, though relatively modest, had been constant and was most welcome because the more members there were to share the cost of services, the lower individual subscriptions could be kept.

Mrs McCoy reminded members that the subscription increase for 1994 would be the lowest for many years, and at a considerably lower rate than some other professions!

Mrs McCoy paid tribute to the financial expertise of Mr Jim Banbury, director of finance and adminstration, who would shortly be leaving the Society, and emphasised that the Society’s financial health remained good.

Her proposal was seconded by Susan Wagstaff and carried unanimously.

Members also agreed to reappoint the Society’s auditors, Kidsons Impey, for the following year.

Members’ Benevolent Fund Amanda Strawson proposed and Phillipa

Davies seconded the appointment of members to the Members’ Benevolent Fund Committee, and they were agreed as follows: Miss M E Darley Miss B C Davis MCSP Dr M E Edwards Miss P M Grasty BA MCSP MisdE Holloway Miss A C Pennefather MCSP Mr M W Perry Miss J W Robbens MCSP DipTP

Mrs Strawson explained that the Fund was in constant need of money to meet the increasing demands caused by harsh economic circumstances. Not only elderly members needed help. Younger people were being devastated by illness, bereavement, abandonment and other problems which meant they could not meet their planned financial commitments.

Many Branches and Specific Interest Groups, notably the Organisation of Chartered Physiotherapists in Private Practice, held collections for the MBF at their meetings. Nevertheless, on average, each member of the Society contributed only 5p per year to the MBF. Care for disadvantaged members could be seen as a measure of the Society’s development, and Mrs Strawson urged members to improve this rating.

A collection at the end of the meeting raised €739.48.

Election Toby Simon, Secretary of the Society,

announced the names of members elected to Council, which had been published in the September issue of Physiotherapy.

Thanks Eirian Ricketts moved a vote of thanks

to Mrs Phillips, at the end of her term of office as chairman.

She paid tribute to her commitment which allowed her to dedicate her time and knowledge to further the profession, often sacrificing her family life and leisure for the sake of the Society.

She also appreciated Mrs Phillips’ ability to combine the different agenda, vocal strengths, and interests of Council members into one coherent voice.

‘We have been proud of our figurehead and ambassador’, said Mrs Ricketts, leading members in a standing ovation.

Special General Meeting

Mrs Phillips took the chair for the SGM. This considered changes in the bye-laws which would enable the Society to recognise and represent helpers.

The meeting proceeded to a vote without debate.

Members in the hall voted decisively for the motion, and on a poll including proxy votes the proposal was carried with 5,839 for and 1,179 against.

The decision to establish a list of helpers was therefore ratified, subject to approval by the Privy Council.

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