2009 NAEP Conference Review

David N Russell, publisher of THIIS magazine and website, gives us his take on the 2009 NAEP Conference at Blackpool. The THIIS website is at www.thiis.co.uk

Pick and mix order of the day as ‘hybrid’ becomes the new retail model buzzword

Just as the NAEP Conference was getting underway, a report from trouble torn Iran appeared on a news programme. The reporter, suggesting that the country was in a degree of turmoil used the expression, ‘The future is the land of guesswork’. In a way, that could sum up where we are with the TCES programme and the retail model. Things are happening, that’s for sure, but many of the things that are happening are resulting in different, new and unique solutions. So, lots to take in from a couple of days in Blackpool….

For the past couple of years the NAEP Conference has been dominated by the controversial and emotive TCES Retail Model debate and, although there was a definite attempt to move away from wall to wall TCES discussions and debate there can be no getting away from the fact that it's the one issue that most people want to talk about and learn more about.

The problem is that progress, at least for public consumption, is relatively slow and so both delegates and suppliers are left mulling over old issues and simply wondering what the end game will be.

That said, although there wasn’t anything that could be considered to be a eureka moment during the two day conference, there were a number of interesting and thought provoking issues at an event that was well run by the new organisers, Disability North.

You know what you’re going to get when you go to a NAEP Conference. The new organisers had resisted changing the event for the sake of change, which was a good plan. If it's not broken, then don't fix it. However, a couple of features had been added, such as a poster display and a new product award. The poster display was well supported, with quite a number of interesting offerings.

 In fact, one delegate expressed an opinion that the guts of the conference were displayed on the walls rather than being inside the conference room. His point was that the nitty gritty of how to do things, how to develop services and how to face the challenges ahead were contained in that area. It was also a reminder that, although the TCES retail model is the hot topic, throughout the UK Community Equipment Services are busy doing what they have been doing for years – getting the right products to people who need them.

The Keynote speech on the first morning came from Professor Heinz Wolff. Now 81, he wrote in his biography that “he intends to go on working until he officially goes gaga!”. The way he entertained the audience suggests that he still has some time to go before that happens.

Having said that, when he rolled off the list of pills he takes for this and that, he clearly is able to speak not just from an expert point of view, but also a ‘customer’ of the health services.

To read the rest of David's report please click on the following link: NAEP 2009 Conference Report