Our Clinical Leads
Epilepsy Clinical Lead (DGH)
Dr Chinwe Ude
Dr Ude is a Consultant Paediatrician with a Special Interest in Epilepsy at Darent Valley Hospital, the Clinical Lead for Paediatric Epilepsy for the past six years after building the service, the Trust Lead for the National Epilepsy12 Audit and a member of the South East Thames Paediatric Epilepsy Group (SETPEG)
Epilepsy Clinical Lead (Tertiary)
Elaine Hughes
Dr Hughes is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist specialising in complex Epilepsy based at Evelina Children’s Hospital & King’s College Hospital, Chair of SETPEG, Lead for Regional Paediatric Epilepsy Services & Surgery and a member of Children Epilepsy Surgery Service National Steering Group.
About Us
In early 2022, following the Epilepsy12 Audit results, the STPN were provided funding to support the delivery of improved Paediatric Epilepsy Services across South Thames. This led to the recruiting of a Project Manager and 3 Epilepsy Clinical Leads to steer this work programme. We are also closely working with the South East Thames Paediatric Epilepsy Group (SETPEG) and the South West Special Interest Paediatric Epilepsy Group (SIPEG).
As a result of the Epilepsy12 audit, four main priority areas were identified:
- Access to Mental Health Screening and Psychosocial Support
- Referrals into tertiary services, including epilepsy surgery
- Addressing variation in care delivery (e.g. access to epilepsy specialist nurses)
- Improving transition care from paediatric to adult epilepsy services
The NHS England Children & Young People’s Transformation Programme currently holds national meetings addressing these four priorities and we are engaged with them to ensure we represent and voice the opinions of our partners in the STPN network.
As a scoping exercise, we obtained information and data from all providers in our region around their epilepsy service via a Survey. This data will allow us to benchmark, analyse demand/capacity and form measurable outcomes for improvements. We are currently in the process of finalising the data reports for each region with individual ICBs and providers.
We also hope to visit Epilepsy Services in 2023 to find out more about the challenges providers face and identify opportunities of working together.
If you wish to be involved with this work (and haven’t been involved so far), or have anything that would be helpful to share with the wider network, please contact us via sara.mahjabin@gstt.nhs.uk
Useful document links are available below.
Transition from Paediatric to Adult Services
Responsible Lead: Chinwe Ude
Mental Health
Shared Responsibility
Tertiary Services
Responsible Lead: Elaine Hughes
Variation of Care
Responsible Lead: Florence Kennard