Abstract
Introduction Paediatric sleep in the UK is rapidly evolving, with increasing demand necessitating evermore efficient delivery of investigations and diagnostic pathways.
One of the most significant recent evolutionary drivers was the COVID pandemic, which required a greater emphasis on remote/home service delivery. This BPSS survey explores the changing practices of paediatric sleep services over the past 5 years with the hope that the insights gained will inform subsequent development.
Methods An online questionnaire (Google forms) was developed and distributed directly to each of the large paediatric sleep centres within the UK and Northern Ireland to initially assess which current studies are undertaken and how service delivery has evolved over the past few years.
Results 19/24 centres (79%) of identified centres have responded to date. Most centres offered oximetry (89.5%), O2/CO2 (84.2%) and cardiorespiratory polygraphy (CRPoly) (94.7%). 11 centres (57.9%) offered polysomnography.
8 centres (42%) reported changing practice with an increase in home studies undertaken. This was partly driven by the pandemic which necessitated reallocation of resources and subsequently secondary recognition of the feasibility of this modality, but also included service pressure on acute inpatient beds, geographical issues and patient preference. The success rates of home studies were estimated to be: oximetry 80%, O2/CO2 77%, and CR Polygraphy 67% with few adverse events (one centre reporting a case of pressure marks).
Data on specific patient groups/ages, estimates of centre patient load, equipment, set-up details/training, support services and advice on how to progress home services was also captured (example data shown in figure 1).
This work captures a broad cross-sectional snapshot of current practice to provide the basis for future service development.
