Sleep apnoea care for Richmond residents

As the NHS organisation responsible for planning services across South West London we regularly assess how services are organised to make sure services are consistent, high quality and that we make the best use of our resources in a sustainable way.  

We are proposing to bring care and resources together with a single provider – St George’s – already commissioned to provide respiratory services including sleep apnoea for all residents in South West London.  

St George’s would increase the capacity within their service to ensure they could accommodate additional patients. This would allow better coordination of the total resources across South West London to deliver more consistent wait times and prioritise patients based on clinical need.  

This would mean: 

• More joined up care – if patients need to see another specialist, the St George’s team can refer them directly within their respiratory services without having to go back to the GP first.  
• Better communication – patient notes could be shared more easily between hospital teams and GPs, helping everyone involved including patients and carers to stay informed.  
• More consistent care – everyone across South West London would get care in the same way, and St George’s could use shared resources in a fair way to reduce waiting lists. 

We are proposing that St George’s becomes the lead commissioned provider for sleep apnoea treatment in South West London.  

For current sleep apnoea patients of the Sleeping Disorders Centre, your care would move to St George’s. 

Some appointments may change from being remote to a mix of face to face and remote visits, depending on patients’ clinical needs. This may mean you need to travel for some clinical appointments. You would be provided with new equivalent CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) equipment by St George’s. This would be discussed with you and fitted during your first appointment.  

I’m a sleep apnoea patient with the Sleeping Disorders Centre, what does this mean for me?

If the proposal goes ahead your care would transfer to the sleep apnoea team at St George’s. We would work closely with teams to make sure your care continues smoothly, with no gaps in treatment.    

• You would be invited to a face-to-face appointment with the St George’s team to review your condition and fit new equivalent equipment. This appointment would either be at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton or St George’s Hospital in Tooting. 
• You would be provided with information about the support telephone line and details about receiving consumables for CPAP in the post each year. 
• If your condition is assessed as stable, you would have a follow up appointment within six months, either in person or by phone depending on your condition. 
• You would then have a one year follow up appointment, either in person or by phone depending on your condition.
• If your condition changes and requires you to see another specialist, you would be referred to the most appropriate team within St George’s respiratory services.  

I’m currently on the wait list for a sleep apnoea assessment with the Sleeping Disorders Centre, what does it mean for me? 

We know that people have been waiting some time to be seen by the Sleeping Disorders Centre. This is because NHS South West London has only contracted the Sleeping Disorders Centre for a set amount of activity, based on what is affordable. This means that the Sleeping Disorders Centre cannot see more patients than the set amount of activity agreed in the contract. 

The St George’s service is already commissioned to provide sleep apnoea treatment for all residents in South West London including Richmond residents and is therefore available to patients on the waiting list.  

If the proposal goes ahead, we would contact you to discuss your options. You may choose to transfer to the St George’s waiting list, or there are alternatives available under the NHS Choices Framework.  

• If you chose to transfer to the St George’s wait list, based on current waiting times you would be sent a sleep study to complete at home within 6 weeks of St George’s receiving your referral. 
• Once the sleep study has been completed you would have an appointment with a consultant to discuss your results and possible treatment options. This could be face to face or by phone, depending on your clinical condition. Depending on the outcome you would be either referred for CPAP therapy, to another respiratory team or discharged. 
• For non-urgent cases based on current wait times you would start CPAP treatment within 9 months of the sleep study. However, if you are assessed as an urgent case for CPAP, then you would start your CPAP treatment within approximately two months of the sleep study.  

I’m a sleep apnoea patient with another healthcare provider, what does this mean for me?

We know that there are patients registered with a Richmond GP who are receiving NHS care for their sleep apnoea from other healthcare providers. If this proposal goes ahead your care would not be affected.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a condition where your breathing stops and starts during sleep, stopping air from reaching the lungs. This can lead to several health problems. OSA is diagnosed with an overnight sleep study, that can be done in clinic or at home and records breathing and sleep patterns while the patient sleeps. Some people may need to use a device called a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine which gently pumps air into a mask you wear while you sleep.