The Congress was formally opened by the MP for Rugby and Kenilworth, Mr Jeremy Wright, who congratulated BSHAA on its campaign to improve provision of auditory health care; hearing loss, he said, was one of the conditions which caused the most exclusion and was the most isolating.  “You make your case for change and the Government to its credit has listened.  But there is a difference between listening and hearing and it seems to me the Government has heard but we have to ask if they have really listened,” he said, adding that the Society had a huge contribution to make to the debate and if it was to help others hear, it must make itself heard.Listen to Jeremy

Society President Mark Georgevic in a confident but challenging keynote speech told delegates to expect strong leadership to guide members through the change in culture they must undergo to meet the challenges ahead; the number of complaints had to be lowered, not just because of the high cost of the legal process of resolving them, or just because it improved our standing in the eyes of those in positions of authority, but because it made good business sense.   “We are joining the healthcare mainstream,” he said, “and in our 21st Century, BSHAA membership must stand for, and ensure good service, good consumer standards and the highest levels of professionalism we can offer.   We owe this to all those people who worked so hard to lay the foundations for the Society 50 or more years ago; we owe it to all our clients...............but most of all, we owe it to ourselves.”