National Society for Epilepsy

The National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) is the largest medical charity in the field of epilepsy in the UK, providing services for people with epilepsy for over 100 years. Based in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, UK, its mission is "to enhance the quality of life of people affected by epilepsy by promoting research, education and public awareness and by delivering specialist medical care and support services." The NSE has close partnerships with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) and the Institute of Neurology (part of University College London), both located in Queen Square, London.

Services
The services provided by the NSE include


 * Residential care for over 200 adults within care homes at the Chalfont Centre and also in supported living accommodation.
 * Diagnosis, assessment and treatment at the Sir William Gowers Assessment and Treatment Centre in Chalfont.
 * Research into the causes and treatment of epilepsy.
 * Epilepsy information services through a national helpline, the national Epilepsy Information Network (EIN) and general public awareness programmes.
 * Epilepsy training to external organisations.
 * Employment opportunities for people with epilepsy.

In October 2006, the NSE announced that it would be reducing the number of residential care beds at the Chalfont Centre to 80 by 2011. This change in its services had been agreed after the organisation had failed to be granted planning permission for a large housing development on its land, the proceeds from which were needed to upgrade the centre's accommodation to the standard required by law. 

History
In 1892, a group of physicians from National Hospital for the Paralysed and the Epileptic, together with various philathropists, founded the National Society for the Employment of Epileptics. The first executive committee of the Society included the notable physicians John Hughlings Jackson, Sir William Gowers, and David Ferrier. The aim was to establish an agricultural colony where people with epilepsy could live and work. A 370 acre farm was bought in Chalfont St Peter which at its peak in the 1950s, cared for over 550 people.

In the 1970s, an NHS treatment unit was established at Chalfont.

In 1995 a 1.5 tesla MRI scanner was installed - the first dedicated to research in epilepsy. This has now been superseded by a 3 tesla instrument in 2004, which produces higher resolution images. The NSE's MRI Unit is at the forefront of medical imaging research applied to epilepsy.