Dr. Niall Pender:

Huntington's disease is a good example because it is such a multidisciplinary disease. I work closely with people with Huntington's disease and, as the Deputy knows, it is an inherited disease so it is a family event. You might have two, three or four members of the same family with it and they might have psychiatric problems, dementia and significant physical movement problems. It is a condition that needs multidisciplinary team management and there is a challenge in that. We have patients in acute hospitals for long periods of time because there is nowhere for them to go. Many of the nursing homes do not feel skilled or able to cope with the demands because so many of the patients will also have significant psychiatric problems and behavioural difficulties and there is not the same support or link-----