Insomnia? There’s a Nice-backed app for that | Brief

Dieter Riemann, a professor of clinical psychophysiology at the University of Freiburg in Germany, suggests that clinicians are now taking insomnia more seriously (Discovery of different forms of insomnia could lead to better treatment, July 22). As a GP, I certainly take insomnia seriously, having seen first-hand the debilitating effect it can have on people’s physical and mental well-being. GPs also understand the importance of addressing the underlying causes of insomnia and are reluctant to prescribe potentially harmful sleeping pills.

The NHS in Scotland is pioneering the use of evidence-based digital therapies to safely treat insomnia and other mental health conditions through cognitive behavioural therapy. These are self-guided programmes, accessible via an app or online without the need for a prescription. The Health Secretary has expressed a refreshing openness to innovation and technologies.

To sleepa sleep improvement program created by the digital therapeutics company I work for, Big Health, is being recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The NHS could roll it out quickly and widely to help hundreds of thousands of people get back to healthy sleep patterns, ease the burden on overstretched healthcare professionals, provide options other than potentially harmful drugs, and begin to reduce the estimated Annual cost of £40 billion for the UK economy due to poor sleep.
Doctor Ian Wood
NHS GP; UK Medical Director, Big Health