John launches Parliamentary Motion On Epilepsy

John Battle, Labour MP for Leeds West, tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament today calling on the Government to give a higher priority to treating epilepsy.

He said, “Epilepsy affects 440,000 people in Britain. It’s a condition that can be managed well and allow people with it to get on with their lives, but to do that it’s important that the NHS can offer the best treatment and help available everywhere in the country. I’d like to see the Government produce a good focused national plan for epilepsy, ensure that all GPs and A&E doctors have training on epilepsy included as part of their regular training updates, and most important of all to fund extra epilepsy specialist nurses.

“We have two epilepsy specialist nurses – known as sapphire nurses – in Leeds, and one each in Bradford, Huddersfield, York, Halifax and Sheffield. They do an excellent job, and I’m calling for more locally and across the country, including more paediatric nurses specialising in epilepsy.

“The Government have quite rightly put cancer and heart disease at the top of the NHS’s priorities, because they’re the biggest killers. But it’s also important that chronic conditions like epilepsy are not overlooked.

“I’ve been a supporter of Epilepsy Action, the national epilepsy charity based in Leeds, for many years now,” added Mr Battle.

Go to www.epilepsy.org.uk

Full text of Early Day Motion 685 Epilepsy Support:

That this House supports the Consensus Statement in response to the recent published National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Epilepsy, produced by a group of expert clinical epileptologists and representatives of the epilepsy voluntary sector, supported by over 100 epilepsy clinicians and voluntary sector organisations; and calls on the Government to put in place a national plan to increase the number of epilepsy specialist nurses from 140 to 600 across all epilepsy disciplines (adult, paediatric, learning difficulties) within two years and to introduce a national plan of epilepsy training for general practitioners, accident and emergency doctors, and other general paediatricians and clinicians to increase their epilepsy knowledge to an appropriate level required for them to fulfil their respective roles.

©John Battle MP 09 February 2005