Audit on adherence to nice guidelines in a specialist epilepsy clinic for people with learning disabilities

The purpose of our study was to audit the adherence to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines in a specialist epilepsy clinic for people with learning disabilities. The multidisciplinary epilepsy clinic in North Hertfordshire has been running for over 10 years. 45 patients who were regularly reviewed at the epilepsy clinic were identified for the audit. Standards/criteria relating to different aspects of care were drawn up using the 'quick reference guide' of the NICE guidelines October 2004. Clinical records were audited before and after recommendations. NICE guidance has been issued to provide evidence based standards of practice and care throughout the UK. While this is commendable, local service and resource constraints may make it difficult to adhere to the guidelines at all times. However, one should endeavour to deliver a service that meets these standards as far as possible. In this audit we found that the multidisciplinary epilepsy clinic in north Hertfordshire had areas of clinical practice, which met NICE standards, and other areas in which there could be improvements in our clinical practice. Our specialist epilepsy service has shown significant improvement in meeting standards and guidance issued by NICE and this has proved to be of benefit to both service users and clinicians involved.