Services for epilepsy in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Physician demographics. It is estimated there are 155,000 doctors in the UK, of whom 23% are primary care physicians. Neurology remains a small specialty in the UK with approximately 270 adult neurologists and 38 pediatric neurologists. On average, there is one adult neurologist per 200,000 to 250,000 individuals. Recently, however, the specialty has been expanding rapidly. The specialty of epileptology is not well established. There are perhaps a dozen or more neurologists in the UK who claim a special interest or expertise in epilepsy. Epilepsy services, however, are often provided by neuropsychiatrists or clinical pharmacologists.