9. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on sleep medicine services? OAQ52398

Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government recognises the importance of sleep medicine, and our approach is set out in the respiratory health delivery plan for Wales. That plan was updated and republished in January this year. It includes a national work stream for improving sleep medicine.

Thank you for the answer, and I very much welcome the work that has been done on something that has not been, perhaps, recognised as being as important as it is. I know there have been previous questions, I think from Llyr Gruffydd and others, around this particular subject. I've had a number of representations to me, because although sleep apnoea and narcolepsy are particularly recognised, those represent only two out of 70 of the various sleep disorders that can have very significant effects on people's ability to work but also to live ordinary lives. One of the representations I've had is that Wales is the only country without a designated facility for the diagnosis and management of complex sleep disorders and that the level of service is a bit of a postcode lottery around Wales in terms of the way in which the services operate. I wonder if that's something that the Cabinet Secretary could look at in more detail and address, and I know that he will also have had particular medical representations on this issue as well.

Indeed, I've received correspondence on this issue directly, and it is part of what the respiratory health improvement group are looking at, because, as you point out, sleeping disorders do exist, and the most common ones we talk about are narcolepsy and sleep apnoea. There are others, and they do have a real impact on people's ability to live their everyday lives. So, we're looking at more of the services that are, for example, currently delivered in the centre at Nevill Hall in Aneurin Bevan, and we'll see about the spread of that service and access to that service from other parts of Wales, and to understand what more we need to do to reduce some of the variations that I recognise exist too. So, that is absolutely part of the work programme that is within the respiratory health group, and so I do expect, over the next year, to be able to describe for you not just what is being planned, but what is being done about that too.FootnoteLink

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