A £30,000 grant from UHCW Charity means more patients can get help with diagnosing sleep related breathing disorders, helping to improve their everyday life.
Sleep is an essential part of our health and wellbeing. Some people have conditions where their breathing is disrupted while they sleep. Continual disturbed sleep leaves people feeling constantly tired, impacting every aspect of their everyday lives. Demand for tests at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire was far outstripping supply. With the first national lockdown in March 2020, the department also had to stop seeing people for face to face appointments. The team produced a series of online videos to help people to use the equipment in their homes.
The Respiratory department at UHCW now have another five machines thanks to a grant from UHCW Charity. It means that every month, over 100 additional people can access this service.
“With the help of the equipment and a new innovative service design (click & collect) that allowed us to continue testing during lockdown, we have cleared the large backlog of tests and now have a waiting list of 1-2 days! Many thanks for the Charity’s support of our service.” Joanna Shakespeare, Clinical Service Lead, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Sciences
While asleep, patients wear equipment to monitor their heart rate, sleep, snoring and breathing patterns, including the movement of their chest and abdomen. A pulse oximeter is worn on a finger to measure oxygen levels. People also fill out a sleep questionnaire. Analysing this data, staff at the Respiratory Department can determine if a person has sleep disordered breathing and if treatment can be offered.
For some people who go on to receive treatment, it can be life changing. It means they may have more energy to spend with their loved ones, to help with focus at work, and improve alertness and concentration. In some instances, diagnosis and treatment means people can keep their driving licenses, which can be vital for their personal and work lives.
“By reducing the time to diagnose sleep disordered breathing we will be able to reduce time to treatment which will have significant quality of life benefits for our patients and their families” Asad Ali, Respiratory Consultant
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