North East sleep crisis a serious issue, politicians say

Politicians and experts have called for North-East England's sleep crisis to be taken seriously.

Dr Sophie West, who leads Newcastle's regional sleep service, said disorders were a particular problem in the region because of other health issues.

She said as awareness increased, more resource was needed to meet demand.

Blaydon Labour MP Liz Twist, who co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group on sleep, said it was a "serious health issue".

Dr West, who is based at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, said while sleep disorders were common across the UK, sleep apnoea and other disorders were a particular problem in the North East because of factors like obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

She said the region had "particular health care inequalities and people can find it harder to access healthcare for all sorts of reasons related to unfair societal impacts".

She said her work included a sleep improvement programme in hospital and training hundreds of health professionals across the region, but thought the area had a higher prevalence of disorders, that was not matched by the number of sleep centres.

There are plans to open a diagnostic community hub at Gateshead's MetroCentre in the future.

Dr West said she needed "more resource for my sleep clinic and I know all the people in the hospitals near me need the same".

"We need more trained sleep professionals to deliver sleep studies, sleep diagnosis and see all the patients out there," she added.

Speaking to the BBC's Politics North, Liz Twist said it was "sad that the North East again is really at the forefront at some of this but really good that we have doctors... and other people looking innovatively at how we tackle sleep problems".

She said her parliamentary group was make sure the issue was recognised and tackled.

She added that she agreed that more resources were needed.

Cleveland Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner said he agreed the issue was sometimes not given the importance it deserved, adding that there needed to be more understanding and flexibility.

"If we stop brushing it aside and start taking it seriously in workplaces, in our education establishments, it shouldn't be something the government has to get massively involved in," he said.

"We just need to be aware it's there and talk about it more."

You can watch the full report on BBC Politics North, North East & Cumbria on the iPlayer now.