Epilepsy, 19 Sep 2013 – 19 Jun 2026

Epilepsy-related Prevention of Future Deaths reports

Last 3 years7 Sep 2023 – 7 Sep 2026

Custom range

Based on PFD publication date. Dates are available up to the published snapshot: 7 Sep 2026. Preset periods end on this date.

28All reports 8SUDEP 20Non-SUDEP

Select SUDEP or Non-SUDEP to filter concerns and reports. Counts are PFD reports, not deaths.

About this dataset

We searched all 6,433 reports in the published corpus using a fixed text-search method, then assessed 317 candidates against source-based inclusion criteria. Ninety reports were included. Epilepsy had to be materially relevant to the death or a substantive coroner’s concern; incidental mentions were excluded.

Eligibility and SUDEP assignment were assessed with GPT-5.6 Sol and checked for valid source quotations. Assignment uses a balance-of-probabilities threshold: SUDEP or non-SUDEP must be more likely than not on the report’s evidence. The exact term SUDEP need not appear. Genuinely unclear eligible reports remain in All only. These are model-assisted documentary assessments, not independently validated clinical diagnoses.

The search can miss reports with sparse terminology or incomplete source text. This dataset does not represent all epilepsy deaths. Recurring concerns and responses are taken from the existing published evidence. Published corpus snapshot: 7 September 2026. Cohort selection updated 5 November 2026. The title shows the first and last included reports’ publication dates.

Reports over time

Matching reports published each year within the selected date range.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Most frequent recipients

Matching reports sent to each recipient.

Coastal Homecare – Hove Branch1
General Pharmaceutical Council1
Midway Pharmacy1
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust1

Most commonly raised concerns

Non-SUDEP 20 reports 7 Sep 2023 – 7 Sep 2026

Reset
  1. Failure to provide required medication promptly when clinically neededThe anchor identifies delayed prescribing of a patient's usual medication after an unexpected admission, while another report identifies delayed prescribing and non-provision of urgent therapeutic medication. These support a recurring concern about timely provision of clinically required medication rather than only the anchor's admission or prescribing-step failure.2 reportsSelected
  2. Failure to reliably learn from medication incidents and implement safeguardsThe medication incident learning process is unreliable: incidents are not consistently followed up or reviewed to identify, communicate and implement safeguards that protect patients from recurrence.2 reportsSelected
  3. Inadequate control of illicit substance use and supply in secure institutionsThe anchor identifies an ongoing failure to mitigate illicit substance entry, distribution and use in a secure hospital, while assertions from different reports identify continuing illicit-drug influx, widespread access and weak supply-reduction controls in prisons. These distinct manifestations support a bounded concern about controlling illicit substances in secure institutional settings, rather than only room searches, drug testing or a prison-specific strategy.2 reportsSelected
  4. Inadequate controls on contraband mobile phones in prisonsDifferent reports identify failures in the prison control system for preventing and mitigating access to contraband mobile phones, including their easy availability to prisoners and their use to facilitate drug dealing and other prison-security risks.2 reportsSelected
  5. Inadequate driver licensing controls for road safetyDriver licensing systems do not reliably identify, record, review or restrict drivers whose inexperience, health or vehicle-related risk requires additional safeguards.2 reportsSelected
  6. Unreliable DVLA medical fitness notification arrangementsThe anchor identifies limited professional awareness and uncertain effectiveness of guidance for notifying the DVLA about medically relevant driving risks. A different report identifies clinicians failing to advise patients with cough syncope to stop driving and notify the DVLA, while another identifies failure to notify the DVLA of relevant medical conditions. These support the named DVLA medical-fitness notification process rather than guidance awareness alone.2 reportsSelected
  7. Unreliable implementation of medication changesReports identify different failures in the medication-change process, including failure to act on a prescribed reduction, failure to ensure carers acknowledge changes, and difficulty implementing specialist-directed changes accurately. Together these support the wider unsafe condition that medication changes are not reliably implemented across prescribing, communication and follow-up controls.2 reportsSelected
  8. Unreliable review and action on clinically significant incoming correspondenceReports identify failures across the incoming clinical-correspondence process, including failure to identify GP medication-review requests, failure to bring action-requiring correspondence to medical staff, and correspondence being filed without GP review or action. The shared unsafe condition is that clinically significant correspondence may not reliably reach the responsible clinician or trigger the required clinical response.2 reportsSelected
  9. Unsafe medication administrationA recurring failure of the medication-administration system to ensure that medicines are administered safely, accurately, promptly and as prescribed.2 reportsSelected

Reports matching this classification and recurring concern

7 Sep 2023 – 7 Sep 2026 · 2 reports

Classification: non-sudepRecurring concern: Failure to reliably learn from medication incidents and implement safeguards
Reset

Only concerns related to the selected recurring concern and their linked actions and positions are shown. Other concerns are counted within each report.

Actions and positions describe what recipients stated in published responses. Select a statement to read its source wording.

  1. West Sussex, Brighton and Hove

    AI-generated summary

    John Malcolm FISHER · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    John Malcolm Fisher was admitted to hospital on 22 April 2025 with persistent focal seizures that developed into status epilepticus, and he died on 4 May 2025 after the seizures could not be controlled. The report raises concerns about inaccurate or incomplete medication information during transfers between community services and the omission of sodium valproate from the care agency’s medication record, resulting in six days without that medication.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to follow up medication incidents for learning affecting vulnerable patients

    Wider context from the report

    “6) Coastal Homecare management then self-reported the incident to the local Adult Safeguarding Team and also the Care Quality Commission but at the time of the inquest there has been no follow-up by either organisation to ascertain if there are any lessons to learn for the benefit of other vulnerable patients. ”

    Source location

    John Malcolm FISHER · Prevention of Future Deaths report
    Page 3 · concerns

    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Conduct a themed review of UCR medication incidents involving MAR charts and report findings through Trust governance structures.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “• A themed review of medication incidents involving MAR charts within UCR is underway to inform ongoing quality improvement, training, and assurance.”

    Source location

    Response from Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
    Page 3 · response
    Published 26 March 2026

    Open published response
  2. West Yorkshire Eastern

    AI-generated summary

    David Joseph Crompton · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    David Joseph Crompton, who had epilepsy, was left without his prescribed Tegretol for approximately 10 days in April 2024 and again in December 2024. His falls in both periods occurred when he was without the medication, and the inquest recorded a fall downstairs on 13 December 2024, with causes of death including hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and cervical spine injury. The principal concerns were delays in supplying essential anti-epileptic medication, reliance on family members to seek alternative supplies, and the absence of clear systems for managing medication shortages.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to learn lessons from potentially dangerous medication supply intervals

    Wider context from the report

    “(3) The inquest was informed that following the April 2024 episode, hospital specialists commented that the absence of Tegretol for around 10 days “will likely have contributed to your seizure activity”. It is questionable whether lessons were learnt from this potentially dangerous interval. ”

    Source location

    David Joseph Crompton · Prevention of Future Deaths report
    Page 2 · concerns

    Open source report

Export data

Your Excel file will include all 2 matching reports.

Classification: non-sudep7 Sep 2023 – 7 Sep 2026 (Publication date)Recurring concern: Failure to reliably learn from medication incidents and implement safeguards
Choose the tabs to include