EPILEPSY support groups in England are casting envious eyes toward Wales following publication of plans to improve care for people living with the condition here, says a Gwent campaigner.

But Jackie Bate, who chairs Gwent Epilepsy Group (GEG) and has the condition herself, says careful monitoring is vital to make sure the plans, in the form of service development directives for the NHS in Wales, are effective.

Six years in the making the plans, the first produced in the UK, include measures to cut incidence, help people self-manage their condition, and reduce likelihood of hospital admission.

More prompt assessment, diagnosis and treatment is a key aim, with Local Health Boards required to develop action plans by September and put multi-disciplinary teams in place by March 2009.

Evidence-based care pathways must be developed, to ensure people are treated in the right place, at the right time, by the right person.

"These plans are vital and Wales is the envy of England because nothing like them exists there," said Ms Bate, from Cwmbran, who helped develop them as GEG chairman and former chairman of the All-Wales Epilepsy Forum.

"It took six years, but to have Assembly backing is fantastic.

"The work of (campaign and support group) Epilepsy Bereaved was the catalyst and we must ensure progress is monitored."

Epilepsy is the UK's most common neurological condition, often mistaken for a mental illness.

Some 20,000-30,000 people in Wales live with it.

Around 1,500 more develop the condition every year.

It causes 1,000 deaths a year UK-wide.

The chance of premature death is two-three times more likely for people living with epilepsy compared to the general population.