§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans she has to ensure that people aged over 60 years with epilepsy receive treatment from specialists in neurology rather than from geriatricians; [27766]
(2) if she will provide details of her Department's planned expenditure on the provision of epilepsy services in the current financial year, in cash terms and as (a) a percentage of its total budget and (b) equivalent figures for each of the last five years, adjusted for inflation; [27762]
(3) what plans she has to include epilepsy as a condition for special attention in "The Health of the Nation"; [27572]
(4) how many specialist centres and clinics for epilepsy are currently operating in the United Kingdom; and what plans she has to increase the number; [27691]
(5) if she will instruct NHS providers to introduce a maximum waiting time for consultants to see people diagnosed as having epilepsy by a general practitioner. [27763]
§ Mr. BowisThe treatment of epilepsy is a matter for clinicians, who decide on specific treatment for each individual patient based on that patient's medical history.
Information on expenditure on the provision of epilepsy services is not available centrally.
424WCurrently, there are no plans to include epilepsy as a condition for special attention in "The Health of the Nation". The Chief Medical Officer's working group on "The Health of the Nation", however, regularly reviews and considers various conditions for such attention.
Information on the numbers of specialist centres and clinics for specific conditions is not available centrally. There are no central plans to increase the number of these for epilepsy, as this a matter for local determination.
The revised patients charter has introduced standard waiting times to first-patient out-patient consultation. This standard applies to all specialties and requires that all patients should be seen within 26 weeks of being referred to a consultant by their general practitioner, and that nine out of 10 patients should be seen within 13 weeks.
These are maximum waiting times and we would expect that patients whose clinical need was urgent should be seen much more quickly.