Regional Epilepsy Service

• Rapid access clinics
• Chronic disease management clinics
• Integrated care pathway for the emergency department
• Adult Ketogenic Dietary Therapy
• VNS clinic
• Phone advice line
• Email service
• Virtual clinics
• Women’s health, family planning and pregnancy clinic
• Pre-surgery support clinical carepathway
• Tuberous Sclerosis Service
• Community outreach service for intellectual disabilities
• Inclusion health service
• Patient initiated review

For GPs making referrals, the preferred modes of contact are:

• Via Healthlink
• By email to epilepsy@stjames.ie
• Written referrals to:

Epilepsy Service
Department of Neurology Hospital 5
St James’s Hospital
James Street
Dublin 8

For existing epilepsy patients:

Epilepsy Advice line:
Monday and Thursday 8.30 to 12.30
Phone 01 428 4135

Or Email Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.30 epilepsy@stjames.ie

Medical Team Consultants

Dr Elisabeth Doran (Lead Consultant)
Dr Damien Ferguson
Dr Yvonne Langan

Nursing Team

Cara Synnott (Advanced Nurse Practitioner)
Denise Cunningham  (Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Tallaght University Hospital)
Sinead Hynes (Advanced Nurse Practitioner)
Anne Gough (Advanced Nurse Practitioner)
Glory Alex (Advanced Nurse Practitioner)
Smitha Kurian (Clinical Nurse Specialist)

Multidisciplinary Team

Laura Healy (Clinical Specialist Dietitian)

The medical team in St James’s Hospital consists of four consultants as well as a team of three NCHDs.  They are supported by a dedicated team of registered advanced nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. Several scientists affiliated with Trinity College Dublin and The Royal College of Surgeons conduct research in conjunction with our staff and patients.

The service prides itself on being as patient-centred as possible. We prioritise access to the service by phone, email or face to face consultation. The service adheres strictly to recognised pathways of care for patients, which have been developed as part of the National Epilepsy Care Programme over the past ten years to provide the best quality of service.

Epilepsy Model of Care

The Dublin Mid-Leinster Epilepsy Service was among the first clinical service in Ireland to use virtual care, even before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Outreach services are provided to vulnerable populations.; We provide outreach to intellectual disability residential care facilities, and homeless people and prisoners with epilepsy.

The epilepsy service at St James’s Hospital is a Learning Health System. This means that staff are constantly reviewing the work they do and the care they deliver, informed by the feedback received from patients to redesign and enhance care for patients with epilepsy.

The hospital has employed a specific pathway for epilepsy care for the past number of years and has consistently seen year on year a reduction in admissions by the use of an evidence-based, intelligent support tool for Emergency Room doctors to help with decisions on admission and discharge.

Once a decision to discharge is made, the epilepsy service is committed to rapid follow-up within ten days of an Emergency Department attendance.

Clinics led by Advanced Nurse Practitioners: 

• Pregnancy and Women’s Health Clinic – prenatal and postnatal care (Tuesday morning)
• Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic (four times per year)
• Vagal Nerve Stimulator Clinics (Friday morning)
• Pre and Post Epilepsy Surgery clinics (once per month)
• Outreach clinics:
• To intellectual disability services in Cheeverstown House and Stewarts Hospital
• Homeless services (SafetyNet)
• Prisons

Virtual Care Clinics are where patients have their appointments at home or work by phone or video.

Patients referred to the service who need to be seen quickly, can be referred to the RAC.