Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members of the HSE for coming in, particularly Dr. Henry. It is good to see him again and engage with him. I acknowledge, as the Cathaoirleach did, the presence in the Public Gallery of Joe and Karen Hughes. It is good to have the HSE respond so promptly to the request of the committee to discuss the issue of sepsis. I am very pleased with what I have heard this afternoon from Dr. Henry and his colleagues about the plans for raising awareness of sepsis.

Our previous engagement with Mr. Hughes was in early March. Concerns were raised at that time about the money that had been extended already to date by the HSE, as outlined in response to parliamentary questions raised by my colleague Deputy McAuliffe. From what is being said today, I am heartened because certain steps have been taken in the last little while by the HSE, particularly around the suggestion for the new clinical programme. I also heard the witnesses mention a GP lead, which is very encouraging. Is the sepsis information leaflet that is on the HSE website out in every GP surgery in the country? How is that disseminated? I note that in the figures that were given to us previously there was funding for conferences and display stands and all sorts of other paraphernalia, which is important. The key thing, and Dr. Henry said it, is the campaign and raising awareness, be that by means of TV, radio or social media. I ask him to elaborate on the dissemination of information currently and on the next stage of getting information out to the public to raise awareness.