The Epilepsy Action helpline

Our award winning UK helpline offers free, confidential advice to anyone affected by epilepsy. If you would like to talk to someone about epilepsy, our trained advisers are here to help.

 

Call 0808 800 5050

Send us your question

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Helpline opening hours

The helpline is open:

  • Monday to Friday: 8.30am to 5pm
  • Saturday: 10am to 4pm

We also offer live chat support from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

What to expect when you contact the helpline

Phone

It’s free to call the helpline from UK mobiles and landlines. Our advisors will listen to you and treat you with respect. We expect the same of you when you use the service.

There’s a good chance you’ll get through to an adviser the first time you call. But, if we’re busy, please feel free to try again or get in touch via live chat or email.

Live chat support

Live chat support is provided by trained advisors. We usually respond to live chat enquiries within two minutes. If you choose to give us your email, we’ll send you a copy of our conversation, including any useful links and resources.

Email support

You can send us your question via our webform or by emailing: helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.  We aim to get back to you within two working days.

How we can help you

We will:

  • Give you information about epilepsy and living with the condition
  • Provide advice around things that might help your situation
  • Help you to explore your options and identify next steps
  • Signpost you to other sources of support

We can’t provide medical or legal advice, but we can let you know where to get more support. If you need help in a crisis, Mind’s website has useful list of crisis support and listening services.

Who can use the helpline

Our helpline is here for anyone affected by epilepsy, including:

  • People with epilepsy
  • Carers
  • Family and friends of people with epilepsy
  • Professionals, including those working in health, social care and education

What our service users say about us

“Clear, friendly and straightforward advice. I ended the call feeling far more optimistic than I have for days.”

“You listened to what I was saying and reassured me so I knew what action I need to take without being so scared and you told me what care I should be receiving. Thank you – lots”

“Wow what a service. It’s all new territory for us with our daughter having just been diagnosed and I can’t thank you enough for a fast, user friendly, knowledgeable service that provides the information and support needed.”

Feedback and complaints

Your feedback helps us to understand what we’re doing well and how we can improve.

Complete our short feedback form

We try to get things right, but if we don’t, please let us know by following our complaints procedure.

 

More about our helpline

  • Accessibility

    Support in other languages

    We can offer advice and information in different languages using a telephone interpreting service.

    To use an interpreter:

    • Call the Epilepsy Action helpline on 0808 800 5050.
    • Tell the helpline adviser which language you need

    We will take your name, phone number and the language you need. We will end the call with you and contact our interpreting service. It should only take a few minutes for us to set things up and call you back.

    Text relay

    Our helpline staff can take calls via text relay.

  • Confidentiality

    When you contact us, we’ll ask to take your details to keep a record of your enquiry and any advice we have given to you. If you contact us again, this will help us to give you the best possible service. Collecting some brief details about you and the nature of your enquiry also helps us to improve our services.

    The helpline is a confidential service. We will only need to share what you tell us if we are concerned that you or someone else is in danger and/ or at risk of harm. If we think this is needed, we will explain this to you. Wherever possible, we will involve you in this process and ask for your consent to contact support services.

    If you call the service, we will be able to see the number you are calling from. If you prefer to remain completely anonymous you may wish to withhold your number before calling. All calls are recorded for training purposes.

    If you email the service, we will be able to see your email address. If you wish to stay completely anonymous, you could create another email address to use.

    If we arrange to call you back, our helpline number will be withheld. If you have chosen to block anonymous or withheld calls to your phone, you will need to tell us and give permission for us to call you back without withholding our number.

    For more information about how we collect and use personal data, please see our privacy policy.

  • Quality

    The helpline team are the proud winners of ‘Helpline of the Year’ at the 2023 Helpline Awards. To find out more about this achievement, visit our news article about the awards.

    Epilepsy Action is the only UK epilepsy charity to have achieved the PIF tick quality mark for it’s health information resources. This helps us give you accurate, up-to-date information you can trust.

    We are a member of the Helpline’s Partnership.

 

Here to support you

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Call the Epilepsy Action helpline

If you would like to talk to someone about epilepsy, our trained advisers are here to help.

0808 800 5050
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Send us your question

Send a question to our trained epilepsy advisers. (We aim to reply within two working days).

Contact us today

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