Dear Colleague

It’s been a busy few months since Christmas and Council has been full steam ahead on reviewing how we can best serve you, the membership! As we get closer to the BCA Spring Conference, I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you of the details of the re-scheduled 2017 AGM.

This will be held at 2:30pm during the Spring Conference on the 17th March 2018 at the Radisson Edwardian Blu hotel, Heathrow.
The AGM papers are attached in the main In Touch content.

Other updates:
1.    The BCA Provides Support to Ireland

We have provided evidence to the Irish Minister of Health to attempt to assist the Chiropractic Association of Ireland (CAI) with regaining the rights for their chiropractors to take and refer for X-Rays. Tony Accardi said the following:

“On behalf of the Chiropractic Association of Ireland I would like to thank your new president, Catherine Quinn, for a letter supporting our effort to be included in the Irish interpretation of the European Directive regarding ionising radiation. The letter was well written and completed very quickly so it may be included with other letters sent to the Minister of Health. I truly appreciate the BCA’s assistance with this matter.”
Tony Accardi, President: CAI

We will of course continue to monitor this situation and, together with the ECU and WFC, provide all the support we can for our Irish colleagues.

2.    Lay Member appointed to BCA Council

Council held its first meeting of this term which was hugely productive and all those involved ready to contribute actively to discussions and listen to their colleagues. I’m very pleased to announce that at this meeting we appointed a lay member to BCA Council.

Nick Rowe enjoys a wealth of experience in acting in respect of regulatory issues involving organisations such as the Rugby Football Union, the General Medical Council, Health & Care Professionals Council and the Financial Conduct Authority. Nick trained with a UK top 25 firm after obtaining his degree in law at King’s College London, after being admitted as a solicitor in September 2002.
Nick says, “I enjoy being a lawyer enormously. What I really enjoy is becoming heavily involved in businesses and organisations of all shapes and sizes; from owner-managed businesses, to PLCs; from schools, to Charites and helping the key decision makers within those entities, shape positively the future of those organisations. I really do think that my eagerness to influence businesses and organisations and my deep commercial and legal experience, alongside my entrepreneurial spirit, can add very real value to the BCA Council”.

Council are excited to welcome Nick to the team and know that we will benefit from his specific expertise and competencies.

Minutes from this meeting will be made available shortly.

3.    Open Dialogue with the Advertising Standards Authority

BCA Council is very grateful to the ASA for attending our recent Council meeting where Janet Taylor kindly gave us a thorough briefing and summary on ASA current practices and policies. They advised us that, whilst full website audits cannot be completed at the moment due to demand, they will look at sections of websites that may need attention via their free service.
We had an in-depth discussion with Janet on how we can move forward productively and look to best represent the needs of our profession with regards advertising. As a result, we have agreed a number of joint initiatives which we hope will be of great benefit to BCA members and the profession as a whole in the coming months.

4.    We want to hear from you!

As part of our plan to engage the BCA membership more effectively, we have chosen to move our Council meetings around the country and will hold a small drinks reception on the evening before so that we can discuss some of our ongoing work and get your feedback on this. Our next Council meeting will be in Birmingham on May 2nd so will release details shortly on this first meet and greet to be held on the evening of the 1st May. We look forward to seeing many of you there and will announce the other locations soon.

I look forward to seeing a lot of you at the BCA Spring Conference, Chiropractic: Beyond the Spine where I will be able to update you further on some of the plans we have over the next few months regarding Governance, Identity and Member Services. We also have our very first Spring Social! Whether you are able to attend the conference or not, you are all invited to join us all in the Newbury Suite from roughly 6pm to catch up with colleagues from around the Country, chat about the day’s events, plus have the chance to meet and talk to your BCA Council.

Best wishes,

Catherine Quinn
President of the British Chiropractic Association