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Minister acknowledges epilepsy health service failings

Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Care, Paul Burstow MP, acknowledged the "many failings of the current arrangements we have for the design and delivery of epilepsy services" during a debate on epilepsy and the NHS which took place at Westminster Hall on 12th October, 2010. Responding to an impassioned speech by Paul Maynard MP, the first MP to publicly announce he has epilepsy, the Minister commended “the remarkable way he outlined a very compelling case, a very personal case, and posed some very important challenges this government needs to make sure it addresses”. He recognised that the words in guidance such as the NICE guidelines and the National Service Framework for Long-term (Neurological) Conditions had not translated into action, and admitted there was “a failing, not of intent, which we share, but implementation”. 

Paul Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, illustrated the enormous variation in services around the country, speaking from experience about the how the quality of his care declined when he simply changed GP from one who understood epilepsy to another who didn’t. He went on to call for a National Clinical Director for Epilepsy who would help to ensure that minimum standards of care were met for the 400,000 people living with epilepsy in England.

Laura Sandys MP, who has also declared she has epilepsy, spoke of the stigma that surrounds epilepsy and said that society created unnecessary barriers, referencing the restriction on people with epilepsy climbing Big Ben as an example. She also spoke of the great improvements that have been made in her own constituency of Thanet South and the surrounding area, following an initiative to train GP to run epilepsy clinics and provide ongoing care to people closer to their homes.

Shadow Health Minister, Liz Kendall MP, was one of many other MPs who contributed to the debate. She talked at length about the problem of misdiagnosis, which costs the country £134 million every year. She specifically asked the minister what plans he had to increase the numbers of epilepsy specialist nurse, how he would ensure that GPs were equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to commission an epilepsy service, and urged him to seek a Care Quality Commission review of epilepsy service.

Graham Faulkner, Vice Chair of the Joint Epilepsy Council of the UK and Ireland and Chief Executive of the National Society for Epilepsy, said, “We are delighted that such an important debate has taken place at such a crucial time of reform in the NHS. We were pleased to see so many MPs come and support Paul Maynard MP and were encouraged by what the Minister had to say. We look forward to the Minister making good on his promise to meet with Paul, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy and voluntary groups such as the Joint Epilepsy Council to begin to drive real change in health services for epilepsy.”

Replying to the speeches the Minister promised to consider a National Clinical Director and to look into the contribution the Care Quality Commission could make to improving epilepsy services.

Prior to the debate, MPs and representatives from the Joint Epilepsy Council of the UK and Ireland, as well as young people from the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy called for ‘A fair deal for epilepsy’ and posed for photographs outside the House of Commons.

Click here to view the Adjournment Debate Minutes
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