St Cross to make a big difference on sleep disorders

St Cross is going to become a specialist centre for helping people who have sleep disorders '“ and could become a world leader in research.
St Cross Hospital is to get another specialist service. NNL-161115-121329001St Cross Hospital is to get another specialist service. NNL-161115-121329001
St Cross Hospital is to get another specialist service. NNL-161115-121329001

Work will start in the New Year on a new sleep unit – the first in Warwickshire – following a £169,000 investment by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust.

The new unit will comprise two observation rooms in a quiet area of the hospital, as well as specialist equipment.

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The Friends of St Cross are backing the new unit, pledging to raise £80,000 for the project, which will go towards beds and other equipment.

St Cross will become just one of a few centres in the country to offer inpatient sleep services. Patients will stay overnight, while staff use machines to monitor their brain activity, breathing, and heart rates while they sleep.

An outpatient sleep service already runs from the hospital, which uses equipment funded by the Friends.

The Friends are hoping to gain support from transport and distribution businesses in the area, as well as from the wider community who will benefit from this new service.

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In April, the team became the first ever Respiratory and Sleep Department to achieve the prestigious Improving Quality In Physiological Services (IQIPS) accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians.

As well as treating patients, it’s also hoped the new unit will become a world-leading research centre to identify the causes of sleep disorders, and how to prevent them.

Consultant Respiratory Physician Dr Asad Ali, said: “St Cross was the perfect site for our new sleep unit, and builds on the outpatient services we already offer to patients.

“At present the nearest inpatient sleep units are in Birmingham, Leicester and Cambridge, and we’re delighted that the first centre in Warwickshire will be at St Cross.

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“Conditions such as sleep apnoea can be really dangerous if they’re not treated, especially for shift workers in industries like manufacturing and transportation. We’re looking forward to treating these patients at St Cross in 2017.”

Chairman of the Friends of St Cross, Willy Goldschmidt said: “The Charity is delighted to support this project which not only makes a difference for the patients who will use the new service but also reinforces the importance of the Hospital of St Cross in the Coventry and Warwickshire health economy.

“It is particularly pleasing that this new service builds on the Friends’ initial donation of Sleep Apnoea diagnostic equipment in 2014 which was supplemented earlier this year as the service expanded.”

More good news for St Cross, see page 8.