Running a paediatric ambulatory sleep service in a pandemic and beyond

Johnson, Jo‐Anne, Burrows, Katrina and Trinidade, Aaron (2022) Running a paediatric ambulatory sleep service in a pandemic and beyond. Clinical Otolaryngology, 47 (3). pp. 433-439. ISSN 1749-4486

Preview

Text Published Version Available under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (644kB) | Preview

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: In response COVID-19, re-establishing safe elective services was prioritised in the UK. We assess the impact on face-to-face hospital attendance, cost, and efficiency of implementing a virtual sleep clinic (intervention 1) to screen for children requiring level 3 ambulatory sleep studies using newly implemented ENT-UK guidelines for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) investigation (intervention 2). OBJECTIVES: (1) compare the proportion of children attending sleep clinic undertaking a sleep study before and after implementation of these interventions; (2) compare clinic cancellations and first-time success rates of sleep studies before and after intervention. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: District general hospital paediatric sleep clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Children aged 3 months to 16 years referred to sleep clinic by ENT for investigation of OSA over the 3-months immediately following interventions (1 June 2020 - 1 September 2020) to the same period in the previous year (1 June 2019 - 1 September 2019). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of children attending sleep clinic; date of birth / age of children attending sleep clinic; of number of children undergoing sleep study; diagnostic outcomes; number of appointment cancellations; number of first-time sleep study failures. RESULTS: Post-intervention, there was a significant reduction in the proportion of children undertaking ambulatory sleep studies, and non-significant reductions in appointment cancellations and in first-time sleep study failures. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of the virtual sleep clinic meant that only those children requiring a sleep study attended a face-to-face appointment, which led to reduced face-to-face attendance. There were also unintended cost-effectiveness and efficiency benefits, with potential longer-term learning implications for the wider sleep community and other diagnostic services.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	COVID-19, Sleep, children, health service, quality improvement
Faculty:	Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic User
Depositing User:	Symplectic User
Date Deposited:	28 Feb 2022 10:34
Last Modified:	13 Jun 2022 14:04
URI:	https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/707350

Actions (login required)

Edit Item