SleepResearch Database
Research type
Research Database
IRAS ID
307191
Contact name
Robert Angus
Contact email
Research summary
SleepHealthSolutions Sleep Research Database
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0154
Date of REC Opinion
6 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion
Data collection arrangements
SleepHealthSolutions (SHS) consultation software enables the review of people with suspected sleep breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), to support accurate diagnosIs and the tailoring of treatment to individuals needs. The software is DTAC and ORCHA approved and the consultations are comprehensive. In addition to symptoms and past history, it inquires on comorbidities, lifestyle, results of investigation and treatments. Research consent is sought from everyone at the start of the consultation, seeking their participation in the creation of an anonymised patient dataset for the purpose of service evaluation and research. Each consultation creates an electronic patient record, General Data Protection Regulations 2016, the Data Protection Act 2018 and Caldicott principles are observed. All participants giving consent are assigned a unique identification number when their data is entered in an automated transfer onto SleepResearch Database, from the clinical record. The unique identification number contains no person identifying information within it. This number is used to track the participant in the Research Database which is held within the Health and Social Care Network. No identifiable data such as names, address, date of birth, NHS number or hospital number are kept on the research database or offered in data sets for analysis. The team at Sleep Health Solutions seek to establish the basis on which the Sleep Research Database will function, the overarching ethical principles and a structure which assures all involved.
Research programme
The Sleep Research Database will be the first of its kind in the UK and it is intended to be a resource to the sleep research community. The detailed features of people with sleep breathing disorders, such as OSAS patients, who have received the detailed standardised computer guided consultation will be collated, including clinical information from individuals both newly referred, follow-up patients and people from different clinical sites. This will offer a significant research resource by creating a large population of well characterised people with sleep breathing disorders and associated co-morbidities. In addition, to consent for their data to be used anonymously each patient is also asked whether they are happy to be contacted for research relevant to their condition, for example if something such as a novel therapy was available for assessment. A Database Management Committee will welcome and oversee access for projects agreeing original sleep research and multi-centre collaboration. It is envisaged this will facilitate study of many aspects of sleep breathing disorders from population characteristics through to the impact of therapeutic interventions.
Research database title
SleepHealthSolutions Sleep Research Database
Establishment organisation
SleepHealthSolution Ltd.
Establishment organisation address
33 Turbine Way
Enoteck Business Park
Swaffham, Norfolk
PE37 7XD