Patients diagnosed with Epilepsy must wait two years to see a specialist

Epileptics have to wait for up to two years to see a specialist, an Oireachtas Committee heard today.The Brainwave support organisation told the all-party body that the state had less than half of the recommended number of neurologists.

Director of services Ava Battles said: “You’re talking about somebody who has to drive from Donegal to Dublin and they have to wait for two years to get that first appointment.“That’s a serious gap in services. You’re also talking about all the other difficulties for that individual. For that period of time they are being managed by their GP who does not have specialist expertise on the condition.”

Brainwave said that the international recommendation is that there should be 41 neurologists for Ireland’s 4.2 million population but there are currently only 17.Brainwave chief executive officer Mike Glynn said numbers of neurologists had increased in recent years but were still too low.He added: “If we get another 17, then we will be getting there.”

“There are many high quality Irish neurologists working in other countries like Britain, the US, Australia, Canada and South Africa.“They are out there. They could be recruited very quickly if the jobs were there in Ireland.” Epilepsy affects less than 1% of the population but can be often misdiagnosed, the Committee heard.Alcoholic seizures may often be mistaken for epileptic seizures.

Brainwave said that one of the misconceptions of epilepsy was that sufferers could not go to discos or cinemas because of strobe lighting, but in reality only about 5% are photosensitive.Ms Battles said that most epileptics should also be able to fly in planes unless it created personal anxiety for them and triggered a seizure.Committee chairman John Moloney said the issues raised at today’s meeting would be discussed with Health Minister Mary Harney and Health Services Executive chief Prof Brendan Drumm.