About this event

  • Date and time Tue 19 May 2026 from 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Location Royal Society of Medicine
  • Organised by Sleep Medicine

Sleep and a regular circadian rhythm is vital for normal growth, cognition, and metabolic function from birth to adulthood and sleep plays a fundamental role learning and regulation of mood. Despite this, there is limited access to specific training in sleep medicine for children or adults during UK medical training. This full day event will help healthcare professionals to understand normal paediatric sleep from ages 0 to 18, how to spot sleep disorders, and what the most up-to-date therapies are. 

Why Attend?

  • Hear from key speakers, including national leaders in paediatric sleep medicine from one of the largest paediatric sleep services in the UK.
  • Receive expert advice on paediatric sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in children and adolescents including, behavioural pattern insomnia, parasomnias like sleepwalking, narcolepsy, and obstructive sleep apnoea. 
  • Learn about key recent advances in therapies for sleep disordered breathing, circadian rhythm disorders, and novel therapies for narcolepsy. 
  • Comprehend what is considered 'normal sleep' and how society should support infants and children to sleep.
  • Engage in discussions regarding sleep history, relevant investigations, and current therapies for sleep and circadian rhythm disorders.

Learning Outcomes: 

  • Understand normal sleep and the common sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in children and adolescents.
  • Be able to assess sleep and circadian disorders, including the history, examination, and role of investigations.
  • Evaluate the causes of a sleepy child.
  • Understand the presentation and treatment of sleep disordered breathing in those with and without learning disabilities. 

Who can attend?

  • Paediatricians.
  • GP's.
  • Trainees.
  • Consultants.
  • Other healthcare professionals interested or working in this field.
Attend educational events for free

RSM members enjoy free access to over 200 expert-led events each year, including CPD-accredited learning.

Become a member
From under £10 p/mo

Follow us on: 
Facebook 
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter 
YouTube 

We would like to thank our sponsors Acurable, AGB-Pharma, Flynn Pharma and Medice UK for their support of this event. Our sponsors have had no influence or involvement over the agenda, content or organisation of the meeting.

Agenda

View the programme

Registration, tea and coffee
Welcome and introduction

Session 1

Introduction to normal sleep and sleep and circadian rhythm disorders

Liz McLellan, Consultant Paediatrician, Paediatric Sleep Service, Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle

Approach to the sleepy child

Professor Heather Elphick, Consultant Paediatrician and Sleep Specialist, Sheffield Sleep Service 

Panel discussion
Tea and coffee break
Broken clocks – understanding and treating circadian rhythm disorders

Dr Michael Farquhar, Consultant Sleep Specialist, Evelina Hospital

Things that go bump in the night - parasomnias

Dr Kirstie Anderson, Neurology Sleep Lead, Great North Children Hospital, Newcastle

 

Panel discussion 
The sleepy adolescent: why well-meant advice often fails

Kieran Gharti

Lunch

Annual general meeting for section members only 

Session 2

Chair: Dr Jane Hicks, Consultant Psychiatrist,  Immediate Past President, Sleep Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine 

Understanding obstructive sleep apnoea

Dr Hui-Leng Tan, Consultant in Paediatric and Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton Hospital

My child won’t sleep – assessing and treating insomnia

Hannah Fowler, Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioner, Southampton Children's Hospital

Panel discussion 
Tea and coffee break
Understanding infant sleep: Sleep, baby and you

Virtual speaker - Professor Helen Ball, Professor of Anthropology, Durham University - 

Closing remaks
Close of meeting

Sponsors

Acurable AGB Pharma Flynn Pharma Ltd Medice

Location

Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom

Registration will close on 2 February 2026 at 1:00am (GMT). Late registrations will not be accepted.

The agenda is subject to change at any time

If the event is recorded, we are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. There is no guarantee that all sessions will be available after the event, this is at the presenter’s and RSM’s discretion.

All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organisations.

This event will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.