Epilepsy Consortium Scotland Press Release
No Embargo: Tuesday 25 March 2014
MSPs Pledge Support for Epilepsy Care
24 Scottish Labour MSPs have signed the Epilepsy Consortium Scotland’s pledge for equal access to care. Among these supporters are current Scottish Labour party leader Johann Lamont with shadow cabinet secretary for health and wellbeing Neil Findlay and respective shadow public health and wellbeing ministers Richard Simpson and Rhoda Grant. All 24 MSPs are backing a fair provision of services for 54,000 people living with epilepsy across Scotland.
Epilepsy Consortium Scotland (ECS) Chair Allana Parker was pleased that many MSPs and MPs, including Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, took time to find out more about patchy services in parts of Scotland. Several MSPs from the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group agreed to help since nearly 700 of their constituents have or will develop epilepsy. MSPs recognise how important it is to ensure that when people need to access epilepsy care there is parity in what’s available to them.
She remarked: “Each day eight people are newly diagnosed with epilepsy. However, in parts of Scotland, access to specialist clinicians and nurses is still a geographical lottery. This is why our members are currently mapping epilepsy services run by health, education, social care providers, and the third sector. Details of postcode gaps will be passed to the Scottish Government and joint working agencies so that we can assist them to redress this situation.”
ENDS
Notes to editor
- The Epilepsy Consortium Scotland (ECS) is a collaboration of organisations and individuals in Scotland coming together to highlight epilepsy issues. It has been developed to inform the Scottish Government and other policy makers about areas of concern around health, social care and related public policy matters. ECS acts as a collective voice for the wider epilepsy community in Scotland. Current membership details at W: www.epilepsyconsortiumscotland.co.uk
- Photos of ECS exhibition representatives with MSPs include Katherine Harvie (Epilepsy Connections), Allana Parker (Epilepsy Scotland) and Phil Robinson (Lanarkshire Epilepsy Support Group). For more details contact: Allana Parker, Chair: 0141 419 1701, M: 07884 012 147, E:enquiries@epilepsyconsortiumscotland.co.uk