LONDON (Reuters) - Hundreds of epilepsy patients are dying needlessly in Britain because of failures throughout the healthcare system, according to a government-funded report released Monday.

The report, launched by the charity Epilepsy Bereaved, said that 39% of adult deaths in epileptics and 59% of deaths in children were "potentially avoidable and that shortcomings in care may have been a contributing factor."

"The report found failures in the provision of care all through the system," said Professor David Fish, consultant neurologist at the National Hospital, London, one of the lead authors of the report.

"This included problems of timely access to expert specialists and a lack of structured and effective review at primary and secondary care. It concluded that poor epilepsy management resulted in a substantial number of potentially avoidable deaths," he added.

Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition affecting more than 300,000 people in the UK. Every year about 1,000 people die in the UK as a result of epilepsy, official figures report.

The report, launched at the start of National Epilepsy Week, was coordinated by the charity, with the participation of five medical royal colleges.

"This report is a call for action for the health service," said Jane Hanna, director of Epilepsy Bereaved. "Five prior government reports identified inadequacies in epilepsy services, but they have all gathered dust on departmental shelves."

The report said that the overall management of patients was inadequate in 54% of adults and 77% of children. The way patients' drug treatments were managed was inadequate in 20% of adults and 45% of children.

The findings also show a lack of appropriate medical investigation in 13% adults and 32% of children.

Many epilepsy patients die after prolonged seizures but other deaths remain unexplained. Studies estimate that 500 sudden and unexpected deaths occur in otherwise healthy people and the greatest numbers are among young people.

Reference Source 89

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