Medical consultations from the comfort of your own home

In 2014 a general practitioner in Kent wrote an article in the Health Service Journal belying the fact that he had to send his patients many miles to the sleep centre in which I previously worked for treatment with CPAP. I wrote a reply article challenging his idea that patients could be treated in the community because of the specialised nature of their conditions, but I have re-thought this.

In fact, 90% of patients referred with sleep problems by general practitioners do not need the backup of a hospital setting which is extremely expensive to run and administer, and inevitably leads to inefficiency.

At Sussex Sleep Services we have turned the traditional referral pattern on its head. We see patients referred by GPs, other specialists and through self referral. All our patients are seen by videolink and investigated in the comfort of their own home. Treatment is also initiated outside the hospital setting and follow-ups can take place by telephone. This flexibility simply cannot be offered in the hospital setting. The fees each patient pays are purely channelled into the cost of their care with virtually no overheads. Waiting times are minimised and all of this keeps the overall cost to a minimum.

For sleep medicine this is surely the way forward. Only the 10% with the most complex conditions requiring inpatient investigations and treatment need to be referred to hospital.

Sussex Sleep Services is leading the way!