Professor Malcolm MacLachlan:

To be honest, this whole area is an ethical area. One of the ways in which people often talk about this is through clinical risk. I have heard some commentary about the clinical risk that is involved or mitigated through very lengthy assessments. As I stated previously, one of the issues in having extremely lengthy assessments and then long waiting lists for interventions is that it ignores the clinical risk that is involved in not intervening. If one looks at Articles 25 and 26 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, they really emphasise the importance of rapid intervention. The ethical issue is not alone about assessment, it is about timely intervention and intervention that is appropriate to the needs of the person as soon as possible. As several speakers have said, early intervention is primary. That is how I would look at the ethical element of it.