NATIONAL Epilepsy Week starts on Saturday with the announcement of an audit of epilepsy-related death.

This will highlight this extremely sad cause of about 1,000 deaths per year, mostly of young adults.

Government reports have shown that epilepsy management in the UK is sub-optimal.

Epilepsy is so common that we will all have acquaintances or relatives who have had it.

Nothing is more alarming for a parent than to see their child in the throes of a convulsion.

Even with experience the distress never lessens and all of us must press for an improvement in the availability of specialist treatment for patients with epilepsy.

I have had one of my regular meetings with Julien Kramer, the director of educational services in Worcestershire.

He told me about the plans for Harry Cheshire Community High School following its Ofsted report. I was impressed with his plans for the public debate on the review of education in Wyre Forest.

The different results of reviews in other parts of the county so far do lead one to believe that nobody's mind is made up yet.

We must continue to push for open debate, and for a decision made by local people with the best interests of our children at heart.

Caroline Spelman, MP for Meriden, introduced a debate in Westminster Hall on the national provision of accident and emergency services.

She described the wide issue and challenge to the Government as well as the local issue in Solihull Hospital. Hospitals in Canterbury, Penzance and Gosport were also mentioned as was our own in Wyre Forest.

I was able to draw the Government's attention to Professor Darzi's report on hospital services in County Durham and Darlington and put this forward as a blueprint for a national strategy that could lessen the anguish caused by the most complete downgrading of a hospital as we have seen here. Sadly, the Government Minister responding did not grasp the nettle and did not give a promise that this model would be considered anywhere else.

However, it was encouraging that the Secretary of State for Health was quoted as saying - as he said to me in the House of Commons - local affairs must be resolved by local opinion.

I only hope the Government will really allow local decision-makers here to make the correct decision about our hospital in the face of the many letters I am receiving that show that the standard of care is all too often unacceptably low.