Sleep service

The sleep service only manages cases of patients with suspected or confirmed sleep apnoea. Patients are referred to the service by their GP. Your GP may ask you to undertake a STOP/BANG questionnaire to determine your likelihood of having sleep apnoea and / or how tired you are (Epworth Sleepiness score). 

This is to help the GP decide on whether a referral is necessary. Other tests may also be useful for example, thyroid function test, vitamin D, B12, iron levels.

Prior to an appointment at Frimley Health you will normally be asked to have an outpatient sleep study. This involves being issued equipment that can record your overnight sleep breathing pattern. You use this for one night and return it to the hospital for analysis. From this information a diagnosis of sleep apnoea can be made.

Your sleep team will write to you with the results of your sleep study. If sleep apnoea is indicated you will either be invited into clinic, or you can respond to the letter which will advise regarding treatment and provide a mask measuring device. Once you have responded to the letter you may receive sleep apnoea equipment e.g. CPAP through the post. You will be contacted if CPAP is to be delivered to you.

The CPAP device instructions can be viewed on our YouTube videos:

Video 1 Dreamstation CPAP set up
Video 2 Humidifier (CPAP) set up
The Mask fitting instructions can be found at these links.
Video 3: Amara View Mask fitting
Video 4: F20 Full face mask fitting
Video 5: Dreamwear full face mask fitting
Video 7: Wisp nasal mask fitting
Video 7: Nuance nasal mask
Video 8: Dreamwear nasal mask

All Dreamstation CPAP machines will be fitted with a modem to record and transmit your data to your service provider.
If you want to view your own data you can download an app called DreamMapper (on android or Apple). 

This allows you to see key information regarding how well your CPAP is working, mask leak and Apnoea index.

After you have used CPAP for a couple of weeks we will analyse your data and report back on how this appears to be working. You will also be required to complete an Epworth Sleepiness Questionnaire to illustrate your daytime tiredness and whether this has improved.

Some patients find CPAP drying although many find an improvement in the first month of using CPAP. If there is persistent dryness causing disturbed sleep then a humidifier may help. Not all patients require a humidifier and therefore time should be given to determine whether this is necessary with a good trial of CPAP. If you do need a humidifier or wish to discuss this contact us on the numbers below. Humidifier set up instructions can be found here Video 2: DreamStation Humidifier set up

Masks

The service will be setting up new patients on one of the main and traditional style masks at this time. The mask is the Resmed F20 mask. You can measure your face from the bridge of the nose and just below the bottom lip using the sizing gauge supplied in your introduction pack. When you return the information in the pack to the Sleep service they will supply the mask with the CPAP machine and deliver this to you unless you have opted for a face to face appointment (there may be a delay with face to face appointments).

You are only funded for one mask a year. However we are aware that one mask may not suit everyone and therefore you may wish to discuss requirements with the sleep service on the numbers below. We carry a full range of nasal and full face masks. It will be difficult to fit these masks at this time in a face to face consultation and therefore you should make yourself familiar with the video instruction in the link given.