Dr. Jerome Coffey:

First, I will deal with the questions in sequence, I will then hand over to Mr. Gleeson for certain points.

The first point about disclosure which is critical and central here, a decision not to share is the reverse of my reading of the process in this situation. There was a clinical audit ongoing. There was a very protracted discussion both nationally and internationally about models of disclosure, concerning how and when to disclose. That is where the debate was; it was not designed not to disclose.

What has evolved, apart from the reference earlier to the information being sent to the clinicians, was a patient information leaflet for patients telling them, where appropriate, that a review had taken place, and a very simple mechanism to trigger an appointment with a clinician to discuss all elements of the review.

The second point I will leave to Mr. Gleeson, regarding the current case and when correspondence started.

The third point is that we anticipate an increased volume of smears, but it is very hard to quantify. Our actions this morning were to make sure there was the capacity, where clinically appropriate, to enable women to have smears without delay. That is open-ended. We do not know how long the interest and anxiety will last for, but we are prepared to keep the enhanced resourcing until everybody has had their questions answered to their satisfaction and, where appropriate, additional smears will be taken. That process will continue for as long as it takes.

The final point was about correspondence and colposcopy clinics. I am afraid I will have to leave it to my colleague.