NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group is introducing a new service to help children with complex needs to get a sound night’s sleep.

Sleep service Hunrosa has been commissioned to deliver the new “Sleep Wise” programme which will support up to 50 children and young people from across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly over the next 12 months.

The service is aimed at children with complex health needs who are already being seen by a community paediatrician.

Set up by sleep consultant Janice Jenner four years ago, Hunrosa’s team of sleep experts work with children and adults to identify and resolve their sleep issues.

Hunrosa (named after the Cornish word for ‘to dream’) is part of the British Sleep Society and a member of the British Paediatric Sleep Association. 

‘Sleep is essential for the emotional and physical health of both children and their care givers,’ said Dr Sarah Bridges, from NHS Kernow. ‘Research is increasingly showing that a sound night’s sleep is an essential factor in development, growth, immunity from disease and learning.

‘As well as providing a bespoke service to this group of children and young people with complex needs, Sleep Wise will also be delivering specialist training to health care professionals and parents and, in some cases, to young people to help them recognise the causes of sleep disturbance and develop ways to address them.’