Meeting of the Parliament 16 November 2022
I always welcome good news. However, I will share with the minister figures that I have that show that chronic pain waiting times were just as bad before Covid-19 as they are now. Figures show that 23 per cent of people were waiting for more than 18 weeks for a first appointment at the end of December 2019. In comparison, 17.9 per cent were waiting for more than 25 weeks in June this year. The problem has not really gone away.
Ian Semmons runs the charity Action on Pain and is a patient representative. He said, which sums it up for me, that
“it’s fair to say that chronic pain services in Scotland are in the worst state in the whole of the UK at the moment.”
Let us listen to patients and turn the situation around. If it needs investment, let us deliver that. However, we need transparency of data so that we can establish the scale of the need for improvement, and we need self-management services alongside specialist services, rather than as a substitute for them. Chronic pain is debilitating. Access to services is critical. The Government needs to get a move on.
I move amendment S6M-06779.1, to leave out from “notes the actions” to end and insert:
“notes the concerns from some chronic pain patients regarding the Scottish Government’s lack of meaningful engagement with their representatives, which is causing upset and distrust; supports the focus on delivering person-centred care and improving access to local support for pain; recognises the efforts to increase NHS staff skills and knowledge of chronic pain and its impact, and agrees with the commitment to improve the consistency and quality of pain management services across Scotland; regrets, however, the continued reports of many vulnerable people with chronic pain being forced into unsuitable self-management pathways, with increased pressures on primary care, due to a lack of access to specialist services; recommends that the Scottish Government works in partnership with patient groups to ensure a truly collaborative approach to improving the treatment and wellbeing of chronic pain patients, and calls on Scottish Government ministers to protect specialist chronic pain services, and provide greater transparency around waiting times for return patients.”
15:30Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.