Welsh Assembly on right track for epilepsy care, says The Princess Royal Trust for Carers

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Wales welcomes the proposals of the Welsh Assembly Government to improve care for people with epilepsy.

The Assembly’s aim to provide a more joined up approach across the health, social care and voluntary sectors can only benefit patients and their carers, says the Trust.

The Trust strongly supports the proposal that services be delivered closer to people’s homes, making it easier for sufferers and their carers to seek and receive help. When local services are not available, the responsibility often falls on the unpaid family carers who provide day to day support to sufferers such as collecting and administering medication and providing first aid treatment to sufferers during and after attacks.

In their response to the Assembly’s consultation on this proposal, the Trust will emphasise that carers want the best for the people they care for, but that they also want to be respected, involved and supported in their caring roles. Too many carers are left isolated and without adequate local support. This can result in depression and other health issues on the part of the carer. The Trust believes that this can be avoided if local services always seek to involve families and carers when making care decisions that affect their lives.

Steve Lewis, Development Manager at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Wales said, “We welcome these proposals wholeheartedly and we are glad that the Welsh Assembly Government is consulting publicly over them. However, the Assembly must ensure that it engages fully with families and carers about how best to make these proposals a reality. To help it do this, we are writing to Edwina Hart to invite her to meet some carers affected by epilepsy, so that the Assembly can fully understand and take into account the needs of the people directly affected by these proposals.”