Hi
Trinity, Hi
Ploppy,
Some background information that may help you put what any of the doctors tell you in context.
There are 150 or so foundation trust hospitals in the NHS and almost all of them now have a sleep-medicine department (or SMD). It used to be that almost all of these UK sleep-medicine departments standardised on
one or the other of the two leading brands of CPAP machines – Philips Respironics or ResMed – and to go with each brand, SMDs bought the proprietary and clinically approved software from the manufacturers.
And as a consequence, PR-based SMDs in the NHS used only the software they got from PR UK, and ResMed-based SMDs in the NHS used only the software they got from ResMed UK.
It wasn't the best state-of-affairs – but it was stable. And it got turned right on its head when it was discovered that the foam insulation used for noise limitation inside
some of PR's home machines might be – I repeat might be – pathogenic.
And what PR did internationally was to recall the entirety of
some of their model range – both from individual customers like me, who bought machines directly from them, and from NHS sleep-department heads who had bought from PR in bulk.
And while PR's replacement program has been going on – for several years now – NHS sleep-medicine doctors and SMD heads have been faced with the problem: what 'new' brands do we buy instead?
And what software comes with it?
There is software that can 'read' both PR and ResMed – and several other brands of machine – but it is 'shareware' and official NHS policy is not to make use of it – because it is not official and not 'approved' and (it seems to me) SMDs are afraid that they might get accused of some illegality if they were to use it.
What this means
Ploppy, and
Trinity, is that yes, the current situation is Very Mixed Up.
Some sleep-medicine departments – such as mine, here in Gloucestershire – have done a bulk swap of PR machines. All the old PR 451 and 461 machines they had previously issued – over several years, I might add – were exchanged on one frantic Sunday a few weeks ago. Exchanged for brand-new PR DreamStation machines. Ie, my SMD is still standardised on Philips Respironics machines and sofware.
Other sleep-medicine departments have switched – but not necessarily to ResMed – because ResMed couldn't, in one bound, up their production to 'take on' the whole of the CPAP market. And certainly, in the UK, ResMed concentrated on (a) maintaining its existing share of the market, and (b) rolling out their long-planned new range of machines – but only at a rate and volume as to control upfront costs and investment, and make for planned profits.
So there rose in the NHS significant interest in brands other than ResMed and Philips Respironics. And with each other brand being offered, the question is: what about the software?
This is the background for your doctor saying your treatment might not 'integrate' with the NHS. (If I can,
Trinity, I will say more than this over the next few days.)
As to 'thebettersleepclinic', I made it my business last September,
Ploppy, and in response to your post, to check them out, via their website. And it appears that this outfit is based in or near Bristol, England, and is run by three doctors – Dr Laura Buckley, Dr David Garley, and Dr Rebecca Mason – each of whom has several years experience of treating sleep apnea within the NHS.
These doctors know from their experience that, when it comes to sleep apnea, there are now long waiting lists for being seen by, and for starting treatment within, the NHS, and they have set up their business to offer people an alternative.* (And, as far as I can see, these three doctors are keeping their existing jobs with the NHS as well as offering this 'private medicine' service.)
Consultations are via Zoom – as you say,
Ploppy – the rise of which was greatly prompted by the Covid lockdown. As far as I can read from the website, the initial consultation is with a doctor, but thereafter, monitoring is done by specialist nurses – the same as it is in the NHS. And machines and software are as determined by the doctors.
Rick.
* There are some who might say said doctors are allowing people with enough money to 'jump the queue' on waiting lists. Others might say, no, they are taking pressure off the system by offering extra amounts of their time and clinical expertise.
And the push-back to that might be: 'Yes – yes, they are – but at a price." Most adults in work in the UK having already paid for the NHS through their taxes.
