The Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
Westminster
LONDON
SW1A 2AA

16 February 2011

Dear Prime Minister,

Ten Minute Rule Bill on Epilepsy

I am writing to ask if your Government will lend its support the Ten Minute Rule Bill on epilepsy that is scheduled for Second Reading on 4 March. I have met a number of constituents who suffer from epilepsy and am very aware of the significant difference this legislation would make to the quality of care they receive and thus their quality of life.

It seems that nobody disputes that improvements in the NHS service for the roughly half a million people in the UK with epilepsy are desperately needed. There have been many studies and reports but no real action. This problem is not of your Government's making but you do have the power to do something about it.

Perhaps the three most important points amongst many are that:

1. The Department of Health confirms that 1.5 people per 100,000 die because of epilepsy and that the median rate for the EU 15 is 1.07. UK performance is therefore about 40% worse than this median rate, representing about 400 avoidable deaths each year, and many more if we were to compare the UK with the best. Most of the deaths are of young people or people in the prime of life.
2. NICE and the Department both recognise that the level of misdiagnosis is 20-31% so tens of thousands of people are taking drugs that won't help their seizures and many others have their lives blighted by a diagnosis of epilepsy when they don't actually have the condition. Is this consistent with a respectable health service?
3. A survey of Trusts shows that over 90% fail to meet the NICE guideline that a first specialist appointment should take place within 2 weeks of a first seizure. These delays mean that the health of many patients is compromised and that some will never be able to attend the appointment because of a fatal seizure.

I know that you believe that the proposed NHS reforms will lead to a better service for all but the longstanding problems for people with epilepsy are so broad and so severe that specific action is necessary now. Epilepsy has never been a priority and the problems will continue unless that changes.

I do hope you will allow this Bill to proceed and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion