Young Epilepsy and Veriton Pharma Ltd announce key partnership agreement in support of the charity’s ‘Rules 4 Schools’ campaign

Young Epilepsy and Veriton Pharma Ltd (Veriton) have announced a key agreement, where the organisations will work in partnership to deliver the ‘Rules 4 Schools” element of the charity’s newly launched ‘#InTheMoment’ initiative.

Through this policy influencing initiative, Young Epilepsy is looking to break down the obstacles to opportunity for the 55,800 school aged children (5-18 years) with epilepsy in the UK1. Starting with the ‘Rules 4 Schools’ campaign, the key aim for the charity, supported by Veriton, is to challenge current thinking and encourage systemic change in priority areas.

Since 2014, all state schools in England are legally required to have a policy on supporting children with medical conditions such as epilepsy. This means that all children with epilepsy should have an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) which sets out essential information such as how the condition affects them and what to do in an emergency. However, Young Epilepsy believe many schools have some way to go in adequately supporting children with epilepsy.

Schools need to make sure that children with epilepsy have the support they need to fulfil their potential in an inclusive and safe environment. In a survey2 we carried out in 2017, we found that 1 in 3 (36%) of young people with epilepsy still don’t have an IHP at school and only 51% of families surveyed said that school staff had been trained to support a young person with epilepsy. This needs to be dramatically improved and we think the ‘Rules 4 Schools’ can help to achieve this.

Matt Robertson, Young Epilepsy

The ‘Rules 4 Schools’ campaign will concentrate on four key areas:

  1. Encouraging or working with schools to ensure all young people with epilepsy have an individual healthcare plan
  2. Encouraging or working with schools to have a policy on supporting pupils with medical conditions
  3. Achieving a requirement on schools to publish medical conditions policies on their websites
  4. Campaigning for school inspections to include a routine check for support for pupils with medical conditions

We are delighted to be working in partnership with Veriton on this critically important campaign and we really look forward to making a difference to as many young people with epilepsy as possible through the #InTheMoment – Rules 4 Schools initiative.

Matt Robertson

For more information about Young Epilepsy and the campaign, please visit www.youngepilepsy.org.uk/rules4schools and www.youngepilepsy.org.uk and https://inthemoment.org.uk

References:

  1. Joint Epilepsy Council (2011) Epilepsy prevalence, incidence and other statistics
    http://www.epilepsyscotland.org.uk/pdf/Joint_Epilepsy_Council_Prevalence_and_Incidence_September_11_(3).pdf
  2. Young Epilepsy (2017) Epilepsy support in schools: Survey of young people with epilepsy and their parents and carers
    https://youngepilepsy.org.uk/images/Epilepsy_support_in_schools_report_-_Oct_17.pdf

Further information:

Young Epilepsy is a member of the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance which is made up of over 30 organisations including charities, healthcare professionals and trade unions working collaboratively to make sure children with health conditions get the support they need at school.

Young Epilepsy is the only national charity with the sole purpose of supporting children and young people aged under 25 with epilepsy and associated conditions, as well as their families. The charity has been improving the lives of children and young people living with epilepsy and related neurological conditions for over 120 years with the aim of enabling them to fulfil their potential and ensure they have the best quality of life. Currently in the UK, there are around 112,000 young people with epilepsy of which 55,800 are school aged children (5-18 years)1.

About Veriton Pharma Ltd

Founded in 1997 by Dr Graham March MrPharmS, the company has pioneered the development and availability of innovative products and specialised medicines in the fields of epilepsy, neurology and rare paediatric conditions. For more information visit www.veritonpharma.com

Epistatus® 10 Mg (In 1 Ml) Oromucosal Solution Midazolam Available on Nhs Prescription Is Approved For Use By Both the Scottish Medicines Consortium (Smc) and the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (Awmsg)

Epistatus is licensed for use in the treatment of prolonged, acute convulsive seizures in children and adolescents aged 10 to less than 18 years, who have been diagnosed with epilepsy1.  Epistatus is presented “ready-to-use” in a novel, pre-filled, single-dose syringe, in a volume of 1 mL, to provide carers with the confidence that they are administering the correct dose1,2.

Epistatus has been developed specifically for buccal administration. The pre-filled syringe comes in a robust, tamper-resistant pack, which is UV-resistant to maximise shelf life1. It is portable and is carried by your patients at all times2.

The single-dose pack meets the principles of the Medicines Optimisation and NHS RightCare approach to help reduce wastage3 and is compliant with the Falsified Medicines Directive that will come into force in February 20194. The NHS price for a single 10mg in 1mL pre-filled syringe is £45.76.

Please visit www.epistatus.co.uk for further information about Epistatus 10mg oromucosal midazolam pre-filled syringe, or to find out more about a budget model to calculate the financial impact of prescribing multipack buccal midazolam versus single-pack Epistatus.

For media enquiries or if you would like a packshot of Epistatus please contact Helen Lawn & Associates.  Telephone 01892 525141 / 07879 818247 or helen@helenlawn.co.uk

References:

  1. Epistatus 10mg oromucosal solution.  Summary of Product Characteristics.
  2. Data on file – Excerpts from Epistatus Patent Application.
  3. Medicines Optimisation: Helping patients to make the most of medicines. Royal Pharmaceutical Society May 2013.
  4. Pharmaceutical waste reduction in the NHS. NHS England, June 2015.

EDM/1049/2018
Date of Preparation: April 2018

Epistatus® prescribing information can be found here.