Feature
The night shift at a hospital sleep lab
Eight beds, two technicians and a waiting list of seven months. We spent a night with the people who watch others sleep.
Health reporter
9 min read
Patients arrive at eight in the evening and leave before seven.
At ten past eleven the last patient finally falls asleep, wired to 22 sensors and a camera. In the control room, two technicians watch eight screens and a pot of tea.
The lab tests about 2,000 people a year. Twice as many are waiting.
What one night shows
Most patients come with suspected sleep apnoea, pauses in breathing that leave them exhausted. A single night is usually enough to see it.
People apologise for not sleeping well in a strange bed. We have seen everything. It still tells us what we need.
Home testing kits could shorten the queue for simpler cases. The hospital has bought forty and is training staff to read the results.
Why the wait is so long
Sleep medicine is a small specialty, and night work is hard to staff. Two of the lab’s six technicians are due to retire within three years.
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Hannah Okoye
Health reporter
Hannah covers health systems, patients and what actually happens in waiting rooms.
