‘Great examples of brilliance’
Professor Mike Kerr is now a Vice President of the charity, having recently stepped down as a Trustee,
SUDEP Action is pleased that Professor Mike Kerr will continue to serve the charity as a vice-president after stepping down as a trustee.
Professor Kerr, a trustee for more than eight years, said: “I first became aware of SUDEP in the 1990s. At the time there were some parts of our professional group who could be resistant to hearing the message about SUDEP and the need for the risks to be communicated to patients. Partly I think because it’s a difficult message to communicate to patients and, at the time, there wasn’t a strong focused message on how to reduce SUDEP.”
So much has changed since then – an era where far fewer neurologists were treating epilepsy.
Professor Kerr explained: “There were very large waiting lists when I first arrived in Cardiff – up to two years for new onset epilepsy in some areas – and from that came care decisions that were not always very accurate, creating all sorts of problems for patients. New onset epilepsy patients need a fast specialist assessment. It was a large deficit in care to turnaround, we’ve not totally turned it around but it’s so much more positive than it was. Neurology is very focused on epilepsy now with many excellent doctors, who are very committed and holistic.”
Professor Kerr’s clinical practice is in the epilepsies associated with learning disability and in the assessment and treatment of epilepsy and psychiatric disorder. He’s been closely associated with initiatives in improving the public health of people with an intellectual disability including developing the Cardiff Health Check, which is used across England and Wales. In 2015 he was appointed as an Ambassador for Epilepsy by the International League Against Epilepsy and in 2019 received the Excellence in Epilepsy award of the UK chapter of the ILAE.
He said: “You can have fantastic epilepsy care and still have SUDEP, but to increase the number of people who’ve had everything possible done to reduce their risk is what SUDEP Action has done so well – whilst defining the risks, making it a lot easier for us to communicate in clinic.
“In the early days SUDEP conversations didn’t always happen because so much time was spent on diagnostic conversations, and we had yet to develop a framework for how best to improve SUDEP risk. From personal experience, you have to treat everyone as individuals, and you have to realise that when you start a conversation about SUDEP it’s got to tie in to a conversation about what you’re going to do about it. Doctors are much better at it now as they know what to say and, again, that’s something that’s come in a very large from the work of SUDEP Action. “The biggest influence on my practice has always been SUDEP Action because the charity drives so much of the positive change within the epilepsy community.”
SUDEP Action Chair John Hirst paid tribute to Professor Kerr and his colleague Professor Stephen Brown, who is also switching role from a SUDEP Action trustee to a vice-president.
He said: “Stephen and Mike have both been fantastic supporters of SUDEP Action who have generously given their time and expertise for many years. I cannot thank them enough. They are great examples of brilliance.”
