Professor Orla Hardiman:

It is probably all of the above. The demographics in Ireland are changing, as members are aware. One reason is that we have an increasing and ageing population, and neurological conditions occur later in life. Another reason is that many neurological conditions that were previously essentially diagnosed but not really engaged with thereafter are now treatable conditions, so there is a need to continue to provide multidisciplinary care. The unmet need has increased because the benefits of attending neurological consultations with multidisciplinary services integrated by specialist nurses is now very much to the fore. The need and the population have increased and the population is ageing but there is actually a lot more we can do now to improve the outcomes for and quality of life of people with neurological conditions.