Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the availability of continuous positive airway pressure machines for NHS patients diagnosed with sleep apnoea.

No specific assessment has been made by the Department.

The provision of treatments for sleep apnoea is a commissioning matter and these decisions are the responsibility of integrated care boards, taking into account the needs of their local populations and national guidance such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome.

NICE has recommended continuous positive airway pressure machines (TA139) as a treatment option for adults with moderate or severe symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea or hypopnoea syndrome, where certain clinical criteria are met.