Adult Snoring Surgery (in the absence of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea)

Surgical procedures in adults to remove, refashion or stiffen the tissues of the soft palate are not routinely commissioned in Devon in the management of simple snoring.

There are a number of alternatives to surgery that can improve the symptom of snoring. These include:

• Weight loss
• Stopping smoking
• Reducing alcohol intake
• Medical treatment of nasal congestion (rhinitis)
• Mouth splints (to move jaw forward when sleeping)

This policy only relates to patients with snoring in the absence of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and should not be applied to the surgical treatment of patients who snore and have proven OSA who may benefit from surgical intervention as part of the treatment of the OSA.

Referral Instructions

Queries and applications should be submitted by clinicians to the Individual Funding Request Panel via our generic email address: d-icb.ifr-newsdt@nhs.net

Exceptional /Individual Funding Requests (IFR)

Referral Forms

Applications should be submitted by clinicians to the Individual Funding Request Panel via the NHS Devon generic email address: d-icb.ifr-newsdt@nhs.net

Referral Form – Individual Funding Request (IFR)

Patient Information

Individual Funding Request (IFR)

Pathway Group

Policy position adopted from NHS England Evidence-Based Interventions Guidance for CCGs, 28 November 2018

Date of publication: 8 March 2019