Dear Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding waiting lists and waiting times for NHS sleep medicine services.
The purpose of this request is to understand how many patients are waiting to access sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment, how long they have been waiting, and how these figures have changed over the past three years.
I am particularly interested in sleep clinics or sleep medicine services treating conditions such as sleep apnoea, insomnia, narcolepsy and other sleep disorders.
Period requested
Please provide the following information for each of these four reporting dates:
- 31 August 2023
- 31 August 2024
- 31 August 2025
- 31 August 2026
Information requested
1. Patients waiting for an initial sleep clinic appointment How many patients were waiting for their first appointment with a sleep clinic or sleep medicine service following a referral on each reporting date?
Please exclude patients waiting solely for a diagnostic sleep study or follow-up appointment where they have already attended an initial consultation.
2. Patients experiencing extended waiting times Of the patients identified in Question 1, how many had already been waiting:
- More than 12 weeks?
- More than 26 weeks?
- More than 52 weeks?
Please provide these figures for each of the four reporting dates.
3. Longest waiting time
What was the longest recorded ongoing waiting time, in weeks, for a patient awaiting their first sleep clinic appointment on each reporting date?
Please measure this from the date the referral was received to the relevant reporting date.
4. Patients waiting to begin CPAP treatment How many patients were waiting to start continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for sleep apnoea, following a clinical decision to provide it, on each reporting date?
5. Delays in starting CPAP treatment
Of the patients identified in Question 4, how many had already been waiting:
More than 26 weeks?
More than 52 weeks?
Please measure these waits from the date of the clinical decision to commence CPAP treatment to the relevant reporting date.
Clarification
For Questions 1–3, I am interested in patients awaiting their first consultation with a sleep medicine service, rather than those waiting solely for a diagnostic test or follow-up appointment.
For Questions 4–5, I am interested in patients who have already had a clinical decision to commence CPAP treatment but have not yet started treatment.
If figures are not held for any of the specified dates, please provide the closest available month-end figures and clearly identify the reporting dates used. If historical information is unavailable, I would still welcome the most recent figures.
If your trust operates sleep services across multiple hospital sites, I would prefer figures broken down by hospital. However, trust-wide totals are perfectly acceptable if these are recorded together.
If your trust does not provide sleep medicine services or CPAP treatment, please confirm this and answer any questions relevant to the services you do provide.
I am requesting information already held by your trust and am not seeking any personal or identifying information.
Cost limits and partial disclosure
If providing the full request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, I would be grateful if you could consider providing any information that can be disclosed within the applicable limit.
For example, if the historical figures or CPAP treatment information cannot be provided, I would still welcome the most recent waiting-list figures for Questions 1–3.
If any information cannot be provided, please identify which elements cannot be answered and explain why.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I would also appreciate any advice or assistance on how the request could be refined to enable further disclosure.
Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory timeframe of 20 working days.
Yours faithfully,
Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 347-2026
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
You asked:
1. Patients waiting for an initial sleep clinic appointment How many patients were waiting for their first appointment with a sleep clinic or sleep medicine service following a referral on each reporting date?
Please exclude patients waiting solely for a diagnostic sleep study or follow-up appointment where they have already attended an initial consultation.
2. Patients experiencing extended waiting times Of the patients identified in Question 1, how many had already been waiting:
– More than 12 weeks?
– More than 26 weeks?
– More than 52 weeks?
Please provide these figures for each of the four reporting dates.
3. Longest waiting time
What was the longest recorded ongoing waiting time, in weeks, for a patient awaiting their first sleep clinic appointment on each reporting date?
Please measure this from the date the referral was received to the relevant reporting date.
4. Patients waiting to begin CPAP treatment How many patients were waiting to start continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for sleep apnoea, following a clinical decision to provide it, on each reporting date?
5. Delays in starting CPAP treatment
Of the patients identified in Question 4, how many had already been waiting:
More than 26 weeks?
More than 52 weeks?
Our response:
The Trust does not provide the service mentioned in your request (sleep clinic). Please re-direct your request to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at ghn-tr.foi@nhs.net.
Next steps:
Should you have any queries in relation to our response, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:
Louise Moss
Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance
c/o Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth, GL3 4AW
E-mail: Louise.moss20@nhs.net
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
