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1 / Board Members 2 / Presidents blog 3 / Awards

The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall strategic and operational work of the BAA. Board Directors are both responsible for specific work areas and act as a liaison between a committee or workgroup. The current Board has 13 Directors supported by our Digital Content & Communications Executive and Fitwise management team. The Board meets quarterly and holds an annual strategy day to review the forward plan. Board minutes are published on the BAA website.

Executive Team

During the last eighteen months, we have developed a more active executive team to focus and maintain momentum between Board meetings. The President meets regularly with the Vice President, Past President and Comms Executive. Each member of the executive team holds lead responsibilities for key objective areas and in supporting other Board
Directors. These areas of responsibility are –

• President – Chairs the Board, is President and supports the Board Directors for EAR, Membership and Early Profs
• Vice President – Supports the President and supports the Board Director for SQC
• Past President – Board Director for Regional Groups, and supports the Board Directors for Conference and Pubs & Comms

2020/2021 Board Members
Kathryn Lewis
BAA President 2020/21
Sue Falkingham
BAA Past President
To be decided
BAA Vice President 2020/21
Barbara Gregg
BAA Treasurer
Claire Benton
Board Director - Conference Lead
Lizanne Steenkamp
Board Director - Education, Accreditation and Registration
Dr Tim Wilding
Board Director - Education, Accreditation and Registration
Dr Michelle Foster
Board Director - Healthcare Science Lead
Sam Lear
Board Director - Service Quality Committee Lead (SQC)
Heather Dowber
Board Director - Membership Secretary
Charlotte Rogers
Board Director - Early Professional Lead (EP)
Susannah Goggins
Board Director - Conference
Laura Finegold
Board Director - Publicity & Communications
President's Blog 29th June

Welcome everyone to the biweekly Horizon blog. As you are aware, Karen Shepherd stepped down as your President two weeks ago. Board thanks Karen for all her dedication and hard work for BAA and all her involvement over her career in Audiology. Karen will continue to influence and drive forward quality standards in her professional role and we do wish her all the very best.

So, now I find myself stepping into the President role far sooner than I had anticipated. But with the great support from Board members and our committees, we are determined that we move onward and upward representing all our members, at all levels, providing support to our wonderful profession.

We are still moving through challenging times and facing uncertainty. However, there have been some positive outcomes. Telehealth has come to the fore and I am sure this will become a standard part of our service delivery.

Online learning has become the method of meeting CPD; this also applies to Webinars which are now the main method of keeping up to date with new developments. The great thing about webinars is if you like the topic being presented but unable to link into them live, you no longer need to miss out on all these great ideas and updates, you can catch the recording later at your convenience.

The BAA webinar last Friday, ‘Dementia and considerations in the clinical environment’ presented by Dr Jenna Littlejohn and Jack Bennett is a great example. I missed the live event as I had a clinic to cover but was able to listen to it later and was so glad I could do this. Our past President Sue Falkingham also gave an update on what BAA were doing for members.

I am all for reducing our carbon footprint, so online meetings have helped us to achieve this. However, we all need to be able to network and meet up with our friends and colleagues occasionally so hopefully next year we may be able to. As the conference this year will be online, Claire and her team have some exciting news for you.

Our next Board meeting is the 20th July and we have a very full agenda. One of our topics will be accessibility to taking on roles in BAA committees and Board. We are an inclusive profession and professional body and we need to ensure we demonstrate this. We will be welcoming applications for the Board positions coming up from any of our members at whatever stage of your career. If you want to be part of helping drive your profession forward, please apply.

President's Blog 18th May 20
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President's Blog 6th April 20
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President's Blog 9th March 20
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President's Blog 20th Feb 20
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President's Blog 27th Jan 20
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Board Annual Awards

British Academy of Audiology Annual Awards

Every year at the BAA annual conference, we take the time to acknowledge those individuals and teams who have excelled or shown exceptional commitment to the Audiology profession over the past year.

Previous award winners can be found here.

The BAA award for the Audiologist of the Year, in memory of Peggy Chalmers, recognises an Audiologist who stands out from the crowd with regards to patient care. We look for an individual who has gone above and beyond to put the patient first, or improve their experience in even a small way, making a significant difference to them. This award is focused on patient care and we particularly welcome testimonials and case studies from patients, or colleagues, highlighting the reasons their Audiologist should be nominated.

Peggy Chalmers contributed immeasurably to audiology in many ways, improving professional standards and training and supporting hundreds of students from the UK and overseas. Her hard work and enthusiasm inspired many professionals in Audiology and with this award, we hope each winner will continue to inspire with their excellent work.

The BAA Team of the Year Award was created in 2004 to celebrate the coming together of the different professions within Audiology. The prize is awarded to a team which has worked together to improve the quality of service in their area. Teams which work within an audiology department, in education, in research, or in an organisational capacity are all eligible. Past winners have shown particularly innovative and original ideas or worked on a specific project directly connected to audiology. Anyone can make a nomination, the winning team is chosen by the BAA board and will have the opportunity to share their accomplishments via the BAA magazine.

Lisa Bayliss was a 20-year old student Audiologist working at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. Sadly, in 1992, Lisa’s life was tragically taken on her way home from work. Lisa is greatly missed by all who met her but especially her family, colleagues and her patients. Lisa was kind, caring and worked well with everyone she met. She was described as a great people person. When it was suggested that an award be named in her honour, it came as no surprise that the award would be given to someone who showed the qualities Lisa possessed in abundance.

The Lisa Bayliss award was traditionally given to the student who performed best at the BAAT part 2 practical exam. With the introduction of the BSc, the award is now given to the student who performs the best during their BSc (PTP) placement.

The BAA award for the Placement Supervisor of the Year recognises an Audiologist who stands out from the crowd with regards to supervising and supporting a student while on placement. We look for an individual who has gone above and beyond to provide a supportive learning environment on placement for students, providing leadership and guidance as well as inspiration. The award is focused on the mentoring of students and we particularly welcome testimonials and case studies from student, colleagues and university placement teams highlighting the reason a particular audiologist should be nominated.

The award is given in honour of Paul Doody, an extraordinary Audiologist who was totally committed to training; he made a huge difference in the lives of numerous Audiologists. Shortly before the 2016 annual conference and after organising the Associate lecture track for the conference, Paul sadly passed away. Although he would not consider this an honour or indeed necessary, his family, friends and colleagues strongly disagree with him. They and the BAA Board feel he had the qualities all nominees for this award should aspire to.

This award, sponsored by Phonak, is for Audiologists working in the field of paediatrics who, it is felt, have influenced the audiological world. We welcome nominations from colleagues, patients and families highlighting why this person stands out from the crowd. We just ask that the nominated Audiologist has worked in their current position for at least six months.

The Student of the Year, sponsored by Oticon, is presented to the student who has achieved academic success in their course, particularly in their final dissertation. This award is open to students on all audiology courses leading to qualification or registration. All High Education Institutes will be invited to nominate students who they feel have achieved a high standard of work in their course. These students will be invited to submit an abstract on their dissertation to be judged by a panel.

The Jos Millar Shield is a long-standing award given each year for the best contribution to a BAA publication. The recipient is chosen from all articles printed in the previous year’s magazine and newsletter and is chosen by the publicity and communications team.

Jos Millar started his career in audiology at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. He had an interest in sound and radio and when an opportunity within audiology came along, he moved to this field and went to Manchester to complete his training. He was always fond of paediatric audiology so returned to the Royal Belfast Hospital for sick children. Later in his career he embarked on a new challenge to set up a paediatric service in his home town of Ballymena.

With his dedication to Audiology, it was only fitting for an award to be named in his honour.