Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has been pressing Ministers to improve care for those suffering from Epilepsy.
The calls for improvements are being led by charity Epilepsy Action, which has published its 'Time to Change' report showing severe problems in services and the lack of implementation of NICE guidelines.
In particular the research found that over 80% of care trusts do not know how many children in their areas have epilepsy, well over half do not employ a specialist epilepsy nurse and over 90% do not meet their 2 week target to assess suspected cases of epilepsy.
There are approximately 1,000 sufferers of epilepsy in Torbay and while the Care Trust has recently appointed a specialist epilepsy nurse, this has been at a lower employment grade than most other Trusts.
Adrian is calling for the appointment of a National Clinical Director for Epilepsy to provide leadership to resolve problems as well as better monitoring of Care Trusts' services for epilepsy.
Health minister Ann Keen recently said in the House of Commons that "services continue to fall short of the standards that people with epilepsy have a right to expect." She did not, however, agree to appoint a clinical director and has left the review of NICE guidelines and their implementation to the Care Quality Commission, which has started work today.
Adrian said: "Epilepsy has become a hidden problem, ignored by some sectors of the NHS. The lack of adherence to NICE guidelines is causing serious problems for the quality of life for those with epilepsy and the Government must start taking a lead to banish the current postcode lottery and raise the quality of care."
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