Implementing epilepsy guidelines within a learning disability service

Purpose: To investigate the usefulness of the implementation of NICE guidelines when reviewing care within an outpatient learning disability service. Methods: We set up a multi disciplinary specialist epilepsy clinic and reviewed all patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy using a specific assessment document based on NICE guidance. We then audited clinical documentation prior to and after the implementation of the clinic. Results: We reviewed 23 patients and found that implementing NICE guidelines showed improvements to individuals' seizure assessments and epilepsy management. When comparing specific areas related to NICE implementation we found that 83% compared to 6% of patients had accurate name and detailed seizure descriptions. We made changes to seizure diagnosis in 76% of patients and improved the level of recording of seizure frequency and severity. Finally 91% compared to 50% of consuttations led to changes in treatment plans. Conclusion: We found that implementing the NICE guidelines allowed us to use a systematic approach to epilepsy management, which in turn led to identifiable improvement in documentation and patient care. (c) 2007 British Epilepsy Association. published by Elsevier Ltd. ALL rights reserved.