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Membership of the Advisory Group (Physical and complex disabilities)

  • Last modified date:
    14 August 2002

In view of the wide field to be covered, the membership of this Advisory Group was larger than that of other, earlier Advisory Groups. The Group had a total membership of 22 with 2 observers - a detailed list of members is provided at Appendix A. Members were drawn from a wide range of backgrounds including:- Rehabilitation Medicine, Rehabilitation and Care of Adolescents, Children, Elderly People and People with Learning Disabilities, Stroke and Long Term Care, Vision, Hearing research, Psychology, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Brain Injury, Organisations representing Disabled People, Medical Devices, General Practice, Health Economics, Informal Care and Purchasing. The Department of Health, Policy Division on Disability, was also represented on the membership of the Group. The member invited to represent a Public Health perspective resigned from the Group after the first meeting, on taking up a new appointment and the member invited to represent Social Services resigned having been unable to attend any of the first three meetings.

Observers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Health Departments of the Scottish Office (SHHD), the Welsh Office (WO) and the Northern Ireland Office (NIDHSS) were invited to attend. While observers from the MRC and the WO attended each of the Group's meetings, SHHD and NIDHSS chose to be kept informed through the circulation of papers. The timetable of meetings of the Advisory Group is provided at Appendix I.

Discussion

The large size of this Advisory Group created some difficulties. Consistent attendance by all the members proved impossible to achieve. Members all had numerous competing demands on their time and several were unable to participate as fully as might have been wished. The benefits to be gained from a large and representative membership was therefore not fully realised.

Considerable effort was taken to ensure that expertise in as many as possible different aspects of disability was included in the membership. This meant that providers of services and researchers in the field were over represented while the purchasers and users of services were less numerous.

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