Ms Magdalen Rogers:

Establishing the nine teams is just a first step. One would have one team to cover the 300,000 or 400,000 population within a CHO. It is a huge commitment for that team of 11 people, so we would see it as just a start. It is important to emphasise that even this, namely, even having one team for those huge CHO areas, has not happened in most CHOs. It is a forward planning piece, having one team on the ground at least to start with. It is important to realise that these teams not only provide direct therapeutic intervention, but they also act as a hub within communities to refer people to other services.

That is a really critical aspect, following on from what Dr. Coote has said about that specialist nature. Signposting to other services is vital. Dr. Pender can talk about conditions like Huntington's disease, where it is really important to have a watching eye in the community over these patients through a community neurorehabilitation team, so that they can be referred for specialist support.