Seventy-two patients seen during first Super Sleep Weekend
The Sleep clinic at our hospital successfully saw 72 patients during its first ‘Super Sleep Weekend’.
This was the first-ever Group CPAP clinic held over the weekend of 19 and 20 July – a new approach aimed at reducing long waiting times for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
When our Sleep Clinic was first established it received around 500 new referrals a year, but demand has almost quadrupled and the team now receives nearly 2,000 new cases a year. This has put increasing pressure on waiting lists, with many of these patients needing both assessments and treatment for OSA.
OSA is a common disorder in which the throat muscles relax during sleep, blocking the airway and repeatedly interrupting breathing causing apnoeic episodes that result in low oxygen levels overnight. Left untreated, OSA can lead to serious health issues including raised blood pressure, cardiac problems, an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and potential cognitive impairment. It is a highly treatable condition with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, which uses a small machine and mask to keep the airway open at night leading to more restful sleep and longer-term health benefits.
To address the growing waiting list and the high number of patients waiting for treatment, the Sleep Clinic launched group education sessions during the “Super Sleep Weekend”. Patients attended a two-hour session where they received detailed information about their diagnosis, the role of lifestyle changes such as weight management and education on how CPAP works.
Three patient groups were seen on Saturday with a further two groups on Sunday. Following the education session, the patients were then seen in smaller groups of four for individual mask fitting. Each patient will now have a CPAP machine and mask sent out to them within the next two weeks and will be followed up with a one-to-one appointment within three months.
The weekend sessions were led by Respiratory Medicine Consultant Dr Sundari Ampikaipakan and supported by Specialist Sleep Nurses Vicky Ershadi and Georgina Siggins.
Sundari said: “The weekend was a great success with 72 patients seen in group settings, making a big difference to our waiting lists. When services are under pressure, we need to adapt the way we do things and I’m delighted we’ve been able to introduce this innovative model, alongside digital tools such as DrDoctor to carry out our pre-clinic assessments and post clinic feedback which has been invaluable.
“All of the patients who attended had a confirmed diagnosis of moderate OSA after a sleep study, so providing education and treatment planning in a group setting made sense and saved many individual clinic appointments. The feedback from patients was overwhelmingly positive with most patients telling us that they found the group clinic to be an excellent initiative.”
“I would like to give special thanks to the entire sleep team and in particular our secretaries and respiratory out-patient team who have given us amazing support to organise this weekend – Georgia Tanner, Acacia Buttifant, Alicia Lambert, Ali Noble, Lynn Black and Allan Love-Jones– Your hard work and support was crucial to the successful delivery of this weekend.”