Health secretary commits to chronic pain service for Scotland

Health Secretary Alex Neil said the Scottish government had a “total commitment to improving the chronic pain service throughout Scotland” as he led a debate on the issue on 29 May 2013.

People who are most afflicted with chronic pain currently travel more than 400 miles to a centre in Bath for treatment, but the health secretary said soon there would be no need for anyone to travel out of Scotland to get the treatment they needed.

Mr Neil said the government would consult on setting up a “specialist pain service” for the estimated 800,000 Scots who suffer from chronic pain.

The consultation would look at three options for the service, one centre for the entire country, a mobile service or a range of services across the country.

Mr Neil insisted the choice would be “as much as possible driven by the needs of the people who require the services”.

He said there would be “no post code delivery services” across the country.

The health secretary began by paying tribute to the chronic pain campaigners and in particular Jackie Ford, Susan Archibald and former MSP Dorothy Grace Elder.

Chronic pain is often attached to other conditions, such as arthritis, cancer, back pain or MS, which means it is often left to those specialist departments rather than having a service dedicated to the pain itself.

Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said she welcomed a promise from the cabinet secretary to create specialist provision for chronic pain sufferers but said it could “not be scattered across Scotland”.

Ms Baillie’s amendment called for a “dedicated NHS chronic pain residential treatment centre as a matter of urgency” and added “we need to involve those with chronic pain in the design of services”.

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Jackson Carlaw “wholeheartedly welcomed” the pledge for Scottish chronic pain service adding that a facility in Scotland would be a “welcome step forward”.

Mr Carlaw said: “This has to be the watershed debate” after which chronic pain sufferers can say parliamentarians finally rose to the challenge”.

Source BBC News