Julian wonders….where are all the ground-breaking professionals?

I am now in the last decade of my official working life. That probably means I am fast becoming a grumpy old so and so and have begun looking at life through the spectacles that show past days as a panacea.

So, with that in mind, I make an observation. In the late 1970s and through the next couple of decades, I was privileged to work with some of the nationally known names in the therapy world. There was a cohort of outspoken, formidable, dedicated and ground-breaking women throughout the UK.

Many of them fought the "system” and won – for the good of their clients. A few have even been recognised by MBE or OBE awards. Many have not. Most of them are, like me, moving towards retirement or have already stepped down, leaving a fantastic legacy in the world of equipment and associated service provision.

But it can be radically improved – that's progress. Yet where are the present day Sheelagh Richards, Maggie Winchcombes, Patsy Alderseas, Phillipa Harpins, Christine Boulds, Dorothy Liddels, and so on? Where are the modern campaigners for change and improvement? From where I sit and through these spectacles of later life I don't see them, I just see salary people, coming to work and doing stuff – then getting a very fine wage and going home.

I am sure it is my myopia and not their apathy, but I wish they were just a bit more obvious........