Dorset Sleep Service
The Dorset Sleep Service launched in August 2023 and provides CPAP therapy for the whole of Dorset; we work in collaboration with the Respiratory Physiology Team at University Hospitals Dorset who predominantly perform diagnostic sleep studies in the East of the County.
Our team is made of Sleep Consultants, Clinical Scientists, Sleep Physiologists, Sleep Practitioners, Associate Sleep Practitioners and Administrators.
We provide diagnostic sleep studies to investigate sleep disordered breathing, mostly obstructive sleep apnoea where people stop breathing in their sleep. We also provide diagnostic services for periodic limb movement disorder. We accept referrals from General Practitioners or other Health Care Professionals in our area. Usually, patients will have symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness. We do not provide an insomnia service nor accept referrals for primary parasomnias.
If sleep apnoea is left untreated, it can increase the risk of obesity, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, dementia, and depression, as well as impact on concentration, memory, mood, social interactions, recovery from illness and injury, performance at work, and social and familial relationships.
We treat sleep apnoea with CPAP therapy, which is a long-term treatment where patients wear a face mask connected to an air pump to normalise their breathing during sleep. We provide a CPAP service for our patients, and we adhere to the NICE guidelines on treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea by prioritising patients for therapy according to clinical and symptomatic burden.
The service is located in the Linden Unit at Westhaven Hospital in Weymouth and St Leonards Hospital near Ringwood (temporarily housed at the Ferndown Medical Centre). The Sleep Service team can be contacted on 01305 255126 or emailed at dch.sleep.service@nhs.net. Do leave a message on our answerphone, and be aware that it can take 7 days for us to return your telephone call or email enquiry. We sometimes close a site at short notice due to low staff numbers, and so we see patients by appointment only
Useful documents
Home Sleep Studies – Patient Information
Services for Complex Sleep Disorders
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and CPAP Therapy