Helpline
UK Epilepsy Helpline: 01494 601 400
Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm
The National Society for Epilepsy’s (NSE’s) specialist helpline is there to help anyone affected by epilepsy. Calls are received from people with epilepsy, their families and friends, as well as professionals such as doctors, nurses, care workers, teachers and employers.
The epilepsy helpline offers callers:
- up-to-date information
- an opportunity to speak trained and experienced staff
- informal counselling
- emotional support
- written resources as available and appropriate
- referrals to other agencies/bodies
- a caller-led service
- respectful listening
- a call-back service to anybody who has financial difficulties and who cannot afford the call.
What the epilepsy helpline does not offer:
- it does not offer advice unless absolutely appropriate
- it does not offer the opportunity to speak with medically trained staff
- it does not offer a service for visiting callers
- it does not offer a 'drop-in' service
- it does not represent individual cases, eg phoning doctor or employer on the caller's behalf
- it does not offer a support service for legal issues
- it does not offer professional counselling
- it does not send information to anyone other than the caller.
Callers to NSE's confidential Epilepsy Helpline are line now being offered the opportunity to speak to an interpreter in over 150 different languages with Language Line Services (opens in a new window).
- The caller will need to speak to a Helpline worker who will ask which language they need. If they do not have sufficient English to do that they could ask someone else to make the call.
- The Helpline worker will then take their telephone number and ask for their first name, the Helpline worker will then ask the caller to put down the receiver.
- The Language Line operator will contact the caller and within a few minutes and introduce the Helpline worker
- The caller will be able to talk directly to each other, through the interpreter.
- All language line interpreters have signed confidentiality agreements.
As we are a UK based charity we are only able to offer this service to those callers living in the UK.
Telephone Helplines Association Quality Standards Mark
The Helpline has been awarded the Quality Standard mark from the Telephone Helplines Association.
We are now able to offer a Language Line service enabling callers to speak in their own language via an interpreter.
> Helpline policies
