BRITAIN: ONLY 24 YEARS TO DIAGNOSE A COMMON ILLNESS

For years Nicola Howells was told her illness was "in her head". She was just 11 months old when she had her first seizure, but it was another 24 years before doctors finally diagnosed her with epilepsy. She was sent for psychiatric treatment, told she was suffering from vertigo and panic attacks, and put on anti-depressants.

But it was not until her father died from a hereditary tumour that doctors finally scanned her and diagnosed epilepsy. And it was nearly two months before she saw a specialist.

"It got to the point that they told me it was all in my head. "My teenage years and my childhood were stolen from me. If I had been diagnosed younger, I would have come to terms with it more easily and would have learnt to take my medication, but as an adult I felt that my whole world had been rocked. "They sent me to a child psychiatrist and I was told that it was all in my head. I know so many people who have gone through so many similar scenarios.

"My mum tried to fight my corner and she is riddled with guilt because when they said it was all in my mind she began to think it was."

Epilepsy experts say Nicola's story is not uncommon. They are calling for more money and expertise to be ploughed into the UK's services. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance states that misdiagnosis rates for epilepsy in the UK are between 20-31%.

Patients currently have to wait between eight to 10 weeks from diagnosis until their first hospital appointment. They wait about five weeks for an EEG (to monitor electrical activity in the brain) and 24 weeks for a magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI), which can reveal structural abnormalities in the brain. NICE standards call for waiting times of no more than a month. Neurologists, nurses and epilepsy charities say the specialty needs an investment of 150 million pounds to overcome serious gaps in the service.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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