Hereford County Hospital doctors trial new sleep pods for power naps

Doctors at Hereford County Hospital are being encouraged to take short power naps following the installation of sleep pods, as part of the national Fight Fatigue campaign.

Wye Valley NHS Trust has pledged their support to the campaign and installed the sleep pods as part of a three-month trial for doctors to take essential power naps as well as providing rooms to sleep in if needed before they drive home, with plans to expand this to all of their shift workers. 

The national Fight Fatigue campaign was launched in 2018 as a joint initiative of the Association of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine.

Syed Husain, junior doctor at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: “It's great to see Wye Valley NHS Trust take the Fight Fatigue campaign seriously. The sleep pod trial is a step in the right direction to provide doctors with improved rest facilities and I look forward to seeing the longer-term plans going forward." 

Sue Smith, director of human resources at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: “We welcome the installation of the new sleep pods, which have been funded by the NHS and form part of our staff wellbeing plans to improve working conditions and rest areas for doctors and all of our shift workers.  

“We’re encouraging staff to fight fatigue by taking breaks, staying hydrated, eating well, getting extra sleep before a night shift and taking a power nap during their break when working a night shift to improve alertness.”

Association of Anaesthetists president and consultant anaesthetist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Dr Kathleen Ferguson, added: “I’m delighted that Wye Valley NHS Trust is officially supporting our Fight Fatigue campaign and we look forward to working with the Trust to help raise awareness of the issues related to fatigue. We want to change attitudes across the NHS to ensure everyone understands the risks of fatigue and how to mitigate against them.  We hope that by taking responsibility collectively for making changes to working practice, we can improve working conditions for all staff which will in turn benefit patient care.”