Date:
20 April 2024
Page URL:
https://www.barnsleyccg.nhs.uk/snoring-surgery.htm?pr=
One in four people suffer from snoring. Snoring is not harmful for your health unless you also have apnoea. Apnoea is a condition when you stop breathing for short periods of time in your sleep.
Snoring can be caused by many things, like being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol, having a blocked nose or tonsillitis. Snoring surgery is when some of the soft tissue at the back of your mouth, or your tonsils is removed to clear up some space and help you with your snoring.
Does it work?
There is limited evidence from research to show that snoring surgery works well and solves the problem. We recommend that doctors prescribe other things to treat your snoring, like losing weight, stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol, or treating your blocked nose.
How can I be referred?
As the intervention is ineffective, it is not routinely commissioned by the NHS. This means that it won’t be routinely funded.
However, if your Doctor thinks that you may benefit from this intervention, they can apply to the Individual Funding Request (IFR) panel. The IFR panel will then assess the application and make a decision about your treatment.
The IFR panel meets weekly and aims to consider cases within 14days. The panel’s decision will be communicated to you by letter if you are an adult or by letter to your GP if you are the guardian of a child applying for funding.
If your IFR application is rejected (meaning that your surgery will not be funded by the NHS), then you or your GP has the right to appeal to the IFR panel against this decision within 90days. The panel is independent to your local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Get Fit First
The Get Fit First policy also applies to this intervention. For further information please see the Get Fit First page.