Warning on chronic pain sufferers

Jan 8 2013

Hundreds of thousands of people are suffering in silence from chronic pain, campaigners have warned MSPs.

Holyrood's Public Petitions Committee was told that services to help patients with the condition were inadequate and lacking in funding from health boards and the Scottish Government.

Meanwhile, a former SNP MSP told members that the reality of chronic pain services was being hidden from the public, describing a recent report on the subject as "a disgrace".

The committee was considering a petition submitted by Susan Archibald, who has suffered from chronic pain for 13 years.

Ms Archibald's petition calls for radical improvements to the current system, including the establishment of a residential unit in Scotland for sufferers, the transfer of more management of chronic pain into primary care, a greater focus on a social rather than medical model of care and a full debate of the issues in Parliament.

Ms Archibald told the committee: "There are so many people across the country that suffer from chronic pain. It is something that you can't see. It is the most debilitating thing that can happen to you. I am here to fight to get better services."

She added: "There are so many folk across society that doctors and nurses haven't helped, not for the want of trying. They have never had access to specialist pain services, they have never had access to chronic pain management."

MSPs were told that a lack of residential services in Scotland and shortages in local day clinic services meant that patients were having to travel to Bath and Somerset for treatment.

Former SNP MSP and chronic pain campaigner Dorothy-Grace Elder, who was also giving evidence to the committee, said: "It is screamingly clear that we should have an inpatient service here. Such a ridiculous situation cannot go on.

"If the day services here were anything like up to scratch, which they aren't - not the staff, they are great - but if the resources were up to scratch we would be able to cope with so many more in the day service, and they wouldn't need to get into the dreadful state that many of them get into."