Epilepsy (Hansard, 18 December 2002)

§ Mrs. Gillan

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if an initial health needs assessment of epilepsy has been produced by(a) eastern, (b) London, (c) northwest Greater Manchester, (d) north-west Lancashire, (e) north-west Mersey and Cheshire, (f) northern region, (g) Yorkshire, (h) central south-east, (i) Kent, Surrey and Sussex, (j) south-east five counties, (k) south-west, (l) Trent NOR COM and (m) west midlands NHS regions; which of these NHS regions has agreed a common service strategy for the commissioning of epilepsy services, involving providers and patients/carers representatives in the process; and

All practitioners¹, NHS plan GPs², unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs)³ in Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic health authority and England as at 31 March 2002
Number⁴
	Of which aged:
	Total	Under 30	30–34	35–39	40–44	45–59
England
All Practitioners	32,011	1,305	3,557	5,497	6,272	5,376
Percentage		4.1	11.1	17.2	19.6	16.8
Of which:
NHS Plan GPs	28,950	341	2,648	4,859	5,894	5,259
Percentage		1.2	9.1	16.8	20.4	18.2
UPEs	27,956	285	2,441	4,698	5,774	5,140
Percentage		1.0	8.7	16.8	20.7	18.4

878W

which of them has agreed common standards, implementation and investment plans for the provision of epilepsy services; [86238]

(2) whether the necessary purchasing arrangements, including setting up service agreements, financial risk-sharing models and establishing primary care trust-led consortia, have been put in place by (a) eastern, (b) London, (c) north-west Greater Manchester, (d) north-west Lancashire, (e) north-west Mersey and Cheshire, (f) northern region, (g) Yorkshire, (h) central south-east, (i) Kent, Surrey and Sussex, (j) south-east five counties, (k) south-west, (l) Trent NORCOM and (m) west midlands NHS regions. [86239]

§ Mr. Hutton

The majority of epilepsy services are provided in a primary or secondary care setting and are not specialised services. The organisations listed in the question are regional specialised commissioning groups whose function is to commission specialised services, generally located in tertiary hospitals; non-specialised services such as epilepsy services are not within their remit. Surgery is appropriate for less than 5 per cent. of epilepsy patients. It is provided in neurosciences centres and is subject to the same access targets as other forms of elective surgery.

We expect to publish an action plan for epilepsy services following the recommendation in the chief medical officer's 2001 annual report that we should improve the standard of services for people with epilepsy. The action plan will also address the findings of the national clinical audit of epilepsy-related death, which was published in May 2002.

In addition to the epilepsy action plan, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence will publish an appraisal of anti-epilepsy drugs next year, followed by a guideline on the diagnosis, management and treatment of epilepsy in 2004. We are also developing the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions, which will focus on improving services for neurological conditions, including epilepsy. We expect to publish the NSF in 2004.