The framework of medical care for epilepsy

In this article, the range of medical and other specialized services for epilepsy are reviewed. The objectives are outlined and the present shortcomings are highlighted. Suggestions are made for improvements and in particular we draw attention to the need and place for the development of epilepsy clinics for patients whose epilepsy poses continuing problems. Services for epilepsy have been reviewed in various government sponsored reports over a number of years. The latest is a wide ranging review with specific recommendations for improvements. In this paper, we describe the overall framework of case required to deal with epilepsy, emphasizing particularly the problems of chronic uncontrolled epilepsy and incorporating suggestions made in the recent report.