Dr. Colm Henry:

If you look at the history to date of the awareness campaign, it focused initially on acute hospitals where sick patients go, but there is an increasing focus on awareness among primary care because that is where people initially present. As the committee has heard this morning, it is a time-critical condition and early intervention increases the chances of a successful outcome, including survival. That is why our focus is increasingly not just on consolidation, which we need to do, but on continuously recycling our education and awareness programme in hospitals and bringing it into the community. There is a very receptive GP community, as evidenced by the turnout at the webinar.