Professor Fidelma Flanagan:

A really important question that exercises us all the time is why people do not come for their appointments. The Chairman has hit the nail on the head on a few reasons. A long time ago it used to be fear of the unknown. People were afraid to turn up and find out something. We are inviting people to come in from going about their business and from a normal environment. They may ask, "Why would I go for a mammogram?" An awful lot of this comes down to education at every level. It is a matter of promoting the good things about screening and trying to eliminate the fear about turning up. We do that and it is multifactorial. We spend a lot of time and energy looking at this. It is a matter of targeting the woman, her family, the GP and the healthcare nurse and the professionals. As for the woman herself, it is a matter of getting campaigns going and getting the message out there that this is a short visit and we are very efficient and effective. Most people have a normal mammogram. It is a matter of early detection and getting the message out there that you should come along for your mammogram, we will pick it up from there and your chances of moving along and having a normal life after a diagnosis are now very high. It is really a matter of overcoming that fear, better campaigns, improving communications and supporting people. Then, once the woman comes into the service, our job is to provide a very efficient, effective service in order that she will come back in two years' time. That is one element of it.

Another is our professionals. It is a matter of educating our GPs, who contact these women all the time through their daily clinics, to ask their patients whether they have had a mammogram yet and, if not, why not, and to spend time with the woman when she comes to the GP's practice.

Third, the people in the hospitals, professionals, the media and everybody else in society have a responsibility. This is a public health initiative. It is for the general population, including families and brothers and sisters. That message needs to get out there. We are doing a lot to try to get it out. We have a lot done and we have more to do. We will just keep at it. Our job is to make sure that we deliver this service and that it is the best it can be. After that, it is to try to get people to come and avail of it.