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This issue has been previously
raised in the United Kingdom Parliament by Mrs. Mahon MP.
The following is an extract from the public record:-
17
Jul 2003 : Column 475
2.22
pm
Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax): I want to raise two important issues. The first relates to sleep apnoea
and road safety.
Last year I helped to organise a working group to
examine the problems of sleep disorder and its impact on road accidents. I also tabled an early-day motion, which was signed by 126
Members of Parliament. The
motion recognised that a significant proportion of all road accidents
resulting in death or serious injury were caused by sleepiness, and that
that led to misery. As well
as noting the obvious human misery caused by fatal road accidents,
however, we should note that a fatal accident costs about £1 million,
given the cost of emergency services and the cost of any subsequent
inquiry.
I am raising this issue in an attempt to secure more
Government recognition of sleep disorders and their impact on society,
especially in relation to road accidents. It is currently estimated that
sleep disorders affect approximately 770,000 people in the United Kingdom,
but despite the number of sufferers there is no mention of sleep disorders
in the national health service plan or other Government health guidelines
- notwithstanding research showing that treatment is cost-effective, and a
recent estimate by sleep experts that untreatable sleep disorders are
costing the NHS £432 million a year.
Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake, the road safety charity, issued a
statement today saying:-
"It's a horrific thought that
thousands of people setting off on long holiday drives could be
unwittingly putting their families at risk because of a sleep disorder.
Tragically, people are already dying on our roads because sleep disorders
lead drivers to doze off at the wheel. These deaths are preventable and it
is high time that"
there was some:
"action to educate drivers
about sleep disorders and give doctors the resources they need to treat
them."
The most common disorder is
obstructive sleep apnoea, in which obstruction of the airway during sleep
can lead to excessive daytime tiredness. Many sufferers remain
undiagnosed because they assume that they are suffering from exhaustion
rather than a specific, treatable condition. Dr. Melissa Hack of the
Newport Sleep Centre says
"Sleep disorders have a huge
impact on the quality of life of the sufferer. Greater attention must be
paid to sleep related disorders which can be identified and treated".
This is an important issue, which has been ignored. I
have tied it in with road safety because of recent research published in a
report called "Dead Tired". It concluded that sleep caused 20 per cent. of
accidents on our motorways. I urge the Government to take the problem
seriously; I will certainly raise it again when we reassemble in the
autumn.
The second issue she raised was about the war in Iraq, which she opposes.
16 Jan 2003 : Column 825
Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax):
Has my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House
seen early-day motion 410, on avoidable accidents caused by sleep
deprivation?
[That this House
recognises that a significant proportion of all road accidents resulting
in death or serious injury is caused by sleepiness; notes the human misery
caused by fatal road accidents, which cost around one million pounds each;
further notes that at least 1 per cent, of the United Kingdom's adult
population has a medical cause for sleepiness; acknowledges the Royal
College of Physicians' observation that untreated sleep apnoea sufferers
may have driving impairments comparable with other drivers well over the
legal alcohol limit; acknowledges that sleep apnoea is readily treatable
with a machine costing £300 which lasts for ten years; notes the research
undertaken by the Sleep Centre at Edinburgh university; that shows the
cost of treating 500 sleep apnoea patients with Continuous Positive Airway
Pressure treatment for five years would be a total of
16 Jan 2003 : Column 826
£400,000 in comparison to the estimated cost of accidents caused by
untreated patients with sleep apnoea over the same five year period being
£5,300,000; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to give serious
consideration to increasing the provision of treatment for sleep
disorders.]
That is a very serious subject. From the answers that I have
received from the Department of Health, it is clear that many primary care
trusts and hospital trusts do not take the matter seriously.
They do not offer a cost-effective treatment that could save many lives on
our roads, as the majority of accidents are caused by people who suffer
from sleep apnoea. Will my right hon. Friend find time for a
debate on what is a very serious matter?
Mr. Cook:
My hon. Friend raises a matter about which she has
expressed concern on the Order Paper. She makes some important
statistical points about the importance of the disorder. I am sure
that Ministers at the Department of Health will want to make sure that the
NHS responds to the problem properly. I shall ensure that they write
to her setting out the strategy for dealing with this disorder
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Mrs.
Alice Mahon MP (Labour, Halifax) presented the first reading of a
Private Members Bill to the UK Parliament in the House of Commons on
Tuesday 10 February 2004. It is a Bill to make provision about
sleep apnoea and related medical conditions.