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NAEP 2024 – Relational, Not Transactional

Medequip awarded Warwickshire Community Equipment Loan Service contract

The world of community equipment manufacture, supply and delivery is often characterised as being about stuff.

And it is.

Important stuff, like mobility aids, specialist beds and seating, hoists, the stuff that supports people to continue living in their own home, or recover at home after being unwell in hospital.

But my experience of attending the National Association of Equipment Providers 26th Annual Conference in June this year reminded me just how important are all the people involved in this complex area of the health and social care system.

Not just as individuals, but how we interact with each other.

Members of Equipment Matters, a co-production group Medequip is part of, reminded the conference attendees in a workshop and main stage speech how important it is that the people who use community equipment are central to these interactions. You can hear from them directly in their blog about the conference.

Increasingly we are seeing tenders for community equipment and associated services being awarded for longer contractual terms and referring to the need for “working together” to address current and future challenges. It’s not just about delivering stuff!

The speaker and workshop line-up arranged by the NAEP conference organising committee reflected this relational, rather than transactional approach. And as ever, the tone set by the redoubtable NAEP CEO Jean Hutfield, and all the organisers was matched by the enthusiasm and generosity of the exhibitors and attendees.

It was great to catch up with colleagues from across the various organisations, and to hear about specific equipment innovations, learn from the experience of service developments and hear how challenges had been overcome.

I particularly enjoyed hearing how one Local Authority-run service in a rural area was having to adapt after boundary changes and I hope they didn’t mind me giving a bit of advice on efficient ways of segmenting large industrial units.

Here at Medequip we are all about sharing the journey and we have always worked hard to build and maintain strong relationships with the manufacturers and suppliers of community equipment, the NHS and Local Authorities who commission our services and the clinical and social care staff who assess people and order the equipment.

But as I look across Medequip today, I see a much wider and deeper range of partnerships and relationships that are integral to the work we do. From the mother of a disabled child now running her own training company “Born at the Right Time”, to the collective of churches in Sheffield, Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care who provide services to support hospital discharge.

From Community Catalysts the organisation that supports development of micro-enterprises in the community, to BASE (British Association for Supported Employment), who work to improve the employment rates of disabled people.

So, as I reflect on my conversations, catch ups and introductions at NAEP, I thought of Medequip, and how we directly and indirectly touch the lives of so many people.

I believe, it is through the individual and organisational relationships we build, as much as the transactions of stuff we efficiently and effectively complete, that we achieve our aim of helping to keep people independent.

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