Oral Answers to Questions

Cheryl Gillan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Ah yes, in the frame, we now have a dame—I call Dame Cheryl Gillan.

[Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

14. What recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of including autism in NICE guidance on epilepsy.

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

NICE is currently in the early stages of updating the clinical guidelines on the diagnosis and management of epilepsies in adults, and plan to go out to consultation on a draft scope in October this year.

[Dame Cheryl Gillan]

The UK’s autism research charity Autistica advises that up to 40% of people with epilepsies are, in fact, autistic, and that epileptic seizures are the leading cause of early death for autistic people with a learning disability. NICE guidance has never mentioned autism when referring to epilepsy, and autistic people have distinctive types of epilepsies that require different clinical approaches. Will the Minister please ensure that NICE includes autism in the guidelines on epilepsy?

[Caroline Dinenage]

At this stage, it is too early in the update process for NICE to say exactly what its guidance will cover. However, my right hon. Friend is chair of the all-party group on autism and vice-chair of the all-party group on epilepsy, and she was the driving force behind the Autism Act 2009. I think that NICE would do very well to heed her advice.