About NAEP

The National Association of Equipment Providers (NAEP) was inaugurated in 1999 as a ‘not for profit organisation’ and as an unincorporated association to represent members in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

An Executive Committee was formed, making the initial contact and establishing communication links with equipment services within the UK and the formation of the national network of regional groups that we have today.

NAEP adopted a new structure in 2007 with the NAEP Council replacing the former Executive Committee, together with the introduction of Special Interest Groups and the empowerment of the membership in the development and future direction of the Association.

The Association’s main governance document is the Constitution & Standing Orders which sets out how the Association operates, how decisions are made and the procedures that are followed to ensure the Council is efficient, transparent and accountable the membership. This document will be updated in due course.

The National Council is responsible for ensuring that robust systems are in place for the management of the key areas of the associations business.

1. Governance

To provide effective governance that ensures the business of the organisation provides clarity and is transparent to all members.

2. Operational

To ensure the operational services of the organisation are managed in an effective and efficient manner.

3. Financial

To develop a proactive approach to business planning and financial forecasting and to ensure external audit takes place of NAEP’s finance and Business is carried out.

4. Services to Members

To continually develop the range of services to fulfil member’s expectations

The NAEP Council

The NAEP Council is composed of eleven serving Council Members, covering fourteen Council Posts, with some Council Members at present holding more than one Council post.

Council Members holding dual posts are representative of an internal sector of the Association in addition to holding a post that facilitates the external representation of NAEP; these are Special Interest /Operations Group Chairs and the Healthcare Representative

Of the eleven current serving Council Members, nine of the post holders volunteer their time to the work of NAEP and are actively fulltime employed within Community Equipment provision, Commissioning and Governance and continues to promote the aims and objectives of the organisation.

There are two paid Council posts, they are held by a part time Membership Administrator and a full time Service Development Officer.

Council Posts and Post Holders from 2020

Position	Post Holder	Region
Chair	Jean Hutfield	NW
Vice-Chair	Wendy Lambie	SE
Treasurer	Jean Hutfield	NW
Health Representative	Jean Hutfield	NW
Clinical Representative	Frances Kent	SE
NAEP Council Associated Services Representative	Lynda Miller	Eastern
Regional Coordinator – Scotland	Anne Findlay	Scotland
Regional Coordinator – Wales	Vacant
Conference Operations Group – Vice Chair	Jean Hutfield	NW
Communications Group – Chair	Jean Hutfield	NW
Clinical & Prescriber SIG – Chair	Frances Kent	SE
Membership Administrator	Debra Attwood	SW
Service Development Officer	Wendy Lambie	SE
Honorary Legal Advisor	Anne Reed

NAEP is aligned with organisations that offer services and support to the statutory and private sector community equipment providers.

NAEP’s remit will continue in:

• The promotion of our members interests in the national policymaking arena and to form partnerships with like-minded organisations to support the development of the organisation and its services.
• Managing, interpreting and disseminating information both within the organisation and externally that will promote the interest of our members.
• Working closely with all Government bodies and associated partners throughout the United Kingdom to ensure that policy changes are informed by evidence

NAEP Patron and Parliamentary Advocate:

NAEP will continue to actively source a Patron and a Parliamentary Advocate and this section will be updated.