Founded in 1917, the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) has since been instrumental in championing better healthcare for over 100 years. The association has grown to become one of the largest healthcare associations in the UK. It now represents over 400 companies, employing 18,500 people, across 12 key sectors of the healthcare and assistive technologies industry. BHTA brings together leading manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and service providers to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation, support healthcare systems and services, and protect consumers’ interests. BHTA members produce and distribute healthcare and assistive technologies (including medical devices, acute and community care products, independent living technologies/products, and associated services). The estimated £3.7bn worth of essential products and services its members supply to NHS and social care settings are integral to the delivery of healthcare across the UK. BHTA members also sell important assistive technologies directly to consumers, helping to reduce the pressures on public health and social care services. The association is also a consumer protection body, ensuring people – often vulnerable because of their age or medical condition – who need BHTA members’ products and services can be confident that they are treated fairly and ethically. At the heart of this protection is the BHTA's Code of Practice, which sets out strict standards that all our members must meet to demonstrate best practice and ethical behaviour in their business and retail dealings. The Code is the first and only one for consumers in the healthcare industry to have achieved approval under the Trading Standards Institute’s Approval Scheme. It protects people by ensuring ethical selling, the suitability and quality of products, and high standards of service. It also includes access to independent arbitration, free to the consumer.