Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce a quality standard for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disordered breathing covering the range of conditions from simple snoring to obstructive sleep apnoea.

NHS England is committed to working with partners across the health system to reduce mortality and improve outcomes for people with respiratory disease.

NHS England is now responsible for commissioning National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines relating to National Health Service services and is responsible for liaising with NICE about the prioritisation of NHS quality standards in development. We understand that NICE has not been asked to develop a clinical guideline specifically on obstructive sleep apnoea.

NICE has been commissioned to develop a quality standard on sleep disordered breathing and will in due course consider which conditions will be covered under the scope of the quality standard and the need for associated clinical guidance. Local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and for commissioning services to meet those needs. For patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, NHS England expects CCGs to take into account the NICE guidelines when deciding what services should be made available.

NHS England currently has no plans to continue the work of the obstructive sleep apnoea working group. However, the National Clinical Director for Respiratory Disease, Professor Mike Morgan, will continue to consider whether any additional specific initiatives or commissioning protocols are needed to promote best practice and treatment for people with obstructive sleep apnoea and to provide advice on this.