§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what amount of money is being used for investigating and treating epilepsy.
§ Mr. MoyleIt is not possible to isolate expenditure on treating epilepsy, since most of the services involved are part of the general medical services provided by health authorities.
The Medical Research Council has responsibility for basic biomedical studies, such as research into the management of epilepsy. However, research costs attributable to epilepsy cannot be identified separately, as much of the work involved will also be applicable to other neurological disorders. My Department is responsible for research into the organisation of services for the care of patients with epilepsy. The department of community medicine of St. George's hospital has been investigating this during the past three years and the results of its study are expected to be available during the next few months. The cost of this project in the current financial year is £30,000. This is funded through my Department's usual research arrangements.