Written question asked by Patsy Calton (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 11 June 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 June 2002. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 June 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the Government will ensure that there is effective communication between primary and secondary epilepsy care providers; if the Government will conduct awareness-raising campaigns for epilepsy with (a) patients, (b) carers and (c) the general public; if the Government will ensure that those experiencing their first epileptic seizure have access to an epilepsy specialist within 28 days; if the Government will ensure that people with epilepsy receive check-ups every six months with their GP or epilepsy specialist to review their medication; what the Government's policy is on the recommendation by the Chief Medical Officer in his annual report that it should put together an action plan for treatment of epilepsy within three months; whether the Government seeks to ensure that (a) epilepsy related deaths are centrally recorded and (b) coroners are made aware of this.

Secondary information