National Society for Epilepsy

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ervices

The services provided by the NSE include

* Residential care for over 200 adults within care homes at the Chalfont Centre and also in supported living accommodation.
* Diagnosis, assessment and treatment at the Sir William Gowers Assessment and Treatment Centre in Chalfont.
* Research into the causes and treatment of epilepsy.
* Epilepsy information services through a national helpline, the national Epilepsy Information Network (EIN) and general public awareness programmes.
* Epilepsy training to external organisations.
* Employment opportunities for people with epilepsy.

In October 2006, the NSE announced that it would be reducing the number of residential care beds at the Chalfont Centre to 80 by 2011. This change in its services had been agreed after the organisation had failed to be granted planning permission for a large housing development on its land, the proceeds from which were needed to upgrade the centre's accommodation to the standard required by law. [http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/pages/aboutus/general/future.cfm]

History

In 1892, a group of physicians from National Hospital for the Paralysed and the Epileptic, together with various philathropists, founded the National Society for the Employment of Epileptics. The first executive committee of the Societyincluded the notable physicians John Hughlings Jackson, Sir William Gowers, and David Ferrier. The aim was to establish an agricultural colony where people with epilepsy could live and work. A convert|370|acre|km2|sing=on farm was bought in Chalfont St Peter which at its peak in the 1950s, cared for over 550 people.

In the 1970s, an NHS treatment unit was established at Chalfont.

In 1995 a 1.5 tesla MRI scanner was installed - the first dedicated to research in epilepsy. This has now been superseded by a 3 tesla instrument in 2004, which produces higher resolution images. The NSE's MRI Unit is at the forefront of medical imaging research applied to epilepsy.

References

* cite web
url = http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/pages/pdf/annualreport05.pdf
title = National Society for Epilepsy 2004-2005 Annual Review
publisher = NSE
accessdate = 2006-07-06
format = PDF
*cite web
url = http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/pages/pdf/consultationreport.pdf
title = Consultation on the Review of the Society’s Strategic Plan
publisher = NSE
accessdate = 2006-07-06
format = PDF
*cite web
url = http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/PAGES/aboutus/general/history.cfm
title = History of the National Society for Epilepsy
publisher = NSE
accessdate = 2006-07-06
*cite web
url = http://www.erg.ion.ucl.ac.uk/Report1990-1999/Report1990-1999.pdf
title = A review of the clinical and research activities of the Epilepsy Group, for the decade 1990 – 1999
publisher = Epilepsy Imaging Group
format = PDF
accessdate = 2006-07-06
*cite web
url = http://www.passmoreedwards.org.uk/pages/Misc/Chalfont.htm
title = The National Society for Epileptics, Chalfont, St Peter
publisher = John Passmore Edwards Web Site
format = PDF
accessdate = 2006-07-06

External links

* [http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk www.epilepsynse.org.uk] The National Society for Epilepsy website.
* [http://www.e-epilepsy.org.uk www.e-epilepsy.org.uk] e-epilepsy is a website run by the NSE for people with a professional interest in epilepsy.
* [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?remchar=&chyno=206186 Entry on the Register of Charities] from the Charity Commission for England and Wales.