Dr. Paul D'Alton:

Briefly, reflecting on the conversation we had this morning, Kate mentioned the concept of one good adult. We can summarise decades of good scientific research and say that a child will do okay if there is one good adult in their life. It is our job as mental health experts and as citizens to ensure that each child has one good adult in their life. This is a systemic problem and it requires a systemic response. Professor Nugent presented the biological evidence for what we all know and for what is common sense, that it is the start of our lives that matters. My mother says it constantly: "Sure he did not have a great start". We know this and we have the evidence to support it.

It is also important to point out that we must be very careful about the message we give to parents. I constantly say to parents that it is the 70:30 rule. If one is getting it right 70% of the time, that is good enough. We are not looking for perfect parenting. The 70:30 rule is good enough.

The other important point, and several speakers raised this question, is the impact of austerity and disadvantage. Professor Nugent and I have talked several times and summarised it many times by saying that equality is the best therapy and the best intervention we can provide to ensure a stable and flourishing society, beginning with the infant mental health of our youngest. Infant mental health is everyone's business. I have said this about palliative care. Palliative or end-of-life care is everyone's business, and infant mental health is everyone's business. It is not the business of a psychiatrist, psychologist or a nurse. It is everyone's business. If we do not get that right we will cause untold damage and suffering for generations to come. It is everyone's business.

This can be actualised and implemented through a programme we developed on palliative care. We developed a palliative care competency programme, which is a competency based programme for the training of health professionals across the board. This sets out what health professionals need to know about palliative care. We can do the same thing with infant mental health. The important thing about that is that it feeds directly into undergraduate and postgraduate training.