Dr Mike Farquhar

After completing his undergraduate training at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Michael Farquhar trained in general paediatrics, respiratory medicine and sleep medicine at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Glasgow), Nottingham Children’s Hospital, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (Sydney), Sydney Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital (London).

Mike joined the Evelina London sleep medicine team as a consultant in 2012. He holds weekly general sleep, hypersomnia and adolescent sleep clinics, and supports Evelina London’s busy diagnostic sleep study service. He also works with colleagues across Evelina London to support sleep in children and young people with complex medical difficulties.

In 2018, Mike and colleagues from the Department of Children’s Sleep Medicine worked with the PSHE Association to develop lesson plans to introduce teaching about sleep into the Personal, Health, Social and Economic curriculum in schools across England, emphasising the importance of helping all children, young people – and their families – to prioritise sleep in their lives.

Mike is involved in educating healthcare professionals on the importance of sleep and the impact of fatigue on healthcare, with a focus on sleep for staff working night shifts. His work led to the introduction of the “HALT: Take A Break” campaign for GSTT staff in 2017, and he has worked with organisations including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association in this area. In 2018 he was awarded the Association Award by AAGBI for his contribution to the #FightFatigue campaign.

Mike has a strong interest in raising awareness of issues and challenges faced by young people who identify as LGBT+, particularly when accessing NHS healthcare. In 2018, he helped develop and pilot the Rainbow NHS Badge scheme at Evelina London, which has now been adopted across Guy’s and St Thomas’ and beyond.

In 2018, Mike was awarded the Individual Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust Award in the “Respecting Others” category, in recognition of his work.

Dr Farquhar has a limited capacity to accept invitations to talk at hospitals/conferences, on topics including paediatric sleep medicine, the impact of fatigue in the context of providing healthcare, and challenges faced by LGBT+ young people. Invitations should be sent to Dr Farquhar’s secretary in the first instance.

Mike can be found on Twitter @DrMikeFarquhar, where he regularly tweets about sleep-related issues affecting children and young people, as well as the importance of acknowledging the impact of workplace fatigue, and more general sleep issues.