Anselm Bergstrom’s first sleep study was booked for eight months’ time. His second, on the redesigned pathway, happened in his own bed nine days after referral.
Nothing in the course is advice about darkened rooms or herbal tea. Participants are frequently disappointed by this in week one and grateful for it by week six.
What the study showed
The apnoea pathway begins with a home study rather than a laboratory night, which cut the wait for a first result from months to under a fortnight.
A lab bed is a scarce resource. Most first questions don’t need one.
Dr. Helena Braddock, sleep medicine
Six months on
Shift patterns cannot be treated around. Where the pattern is the cause, the conversation has to be about the pattern, and it is usually the least welcome conversation in the clinic.
Laboratory nights are still used, for the cases that need them. “They stopped being the front door,” he says.
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