Sleep Medicine Team

sleep medicine team photo

This years World Sleep Day theme is “Sleep is Essential for Health”.

Southampton Children’s Sleep Disorder Service was opened at University Hospital Southampton in 2014. It is one of only a few such services in the UK offering comprehensive investigation and treatment of neurologically based sleep disorders

The multidisciplinary team comprises two specialist somnologists Professor Cathy Hill and Dr Vanessa Hewertson, and Dr Andrea Whitney (consultant neurologist), all highly skilled in the world of paediatric sleep and sleep diagnostics. The consultants are supported by two Clinical Nurse Specialists with a background in both hospital and public health nursing; five specialist sleep practitioners who work with families on sleep programmes; three clinical psychologists who address more complex psychological difficulties and 5 sleep physiologists who run the diagnostic branch of the service. The team serves families, both locally and nationally (as far away as Scotland!) to diagnose and manage a range of complex sleep disorders. 

With quality improvement at the core of the service the team developed the ‘Sleep for Health in Hospitals (SHH) programme, to improve the sleep of children in hospitals. This project is not only embedded within areas of the Trust but has also been disseminated to hospitals UK-wide.  Sleep for Health in Hospital Programme (SHH) - PAEDIATRIC INNOVATION, EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK (piernetwork.org)

The team love to share their knowledge and have delivered a modular online training course to over 500 professionals from across the globe. Managing Children's Sleep Disorders in Clinical Practice - PAEDIATRIC INNOVATION, EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK (piernetwork.org)

We support a range of research projects focussing on sleep problems in children with neurodiversity. Most recently Professor Hill and Professor Cortese, a child psychiatrist with a special interest in sleep, have been granted £2.28 million by the National Institute for Health and Care research to develop sleep help for children with ADHD – see https://www.discasleep.org.uk/ 

Each member of the team is proud to be part of a unique service which promotes sleep to improve the health and wellbeing of children and their families.