Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2023
I thank my friend and colleague Clare Adamson for bringing this important debate to the chamber and for her personal interest in raising awareness of complex regional pain syndrome. Her story was very moving, and I know that it must have been difficult to tell. I wish her son Aidan well.
I have a confession to make. I have been co-convener of the cross-party group on chronic pain since 2016, but, until Clare Adamson brought the condition to my—and the group’s—attention, I was unaware of CRPS. That is why awareness raising and debates such as this one are so important. Until there is greater understanding of the condition, sufferers will not benefit from the research and medical knowledge that they deserve.
As Clare Adamson’s motion states, CRPS is a debilitating and chronic disorder, mostly affecting the limbs. It is characterised by severe pain, pathological changes to bones, joints and skin, swelling, temperature and colour changes and motor dysfunction, and it can cause people to experience persistent burning, severe and debilitating pain.
The three clinical stages of type 1 complex regional pain syndrome are?acute, subacute, and chronic. The acute form lasts approximately three months. Pain, often burning in nature, is one of the first symptoms that initially limits function and chronic pain is a lifelong and debilitating condition. As Clare Adamson explained, the condition can develop after an injury, surgery, stroke or heart attack, and the pain is often very much out of proportion with the severity of the initial injury. It is a truly awful condition to be afflicted with.
Clare Adamson referred to Burning Nights. At a recent meeting of the cross-party group on chronic pain, the founder of that UK-wide charity, Victoria Abbott-Fleming, gave a moving account of her condition. As Clare said, Victoria is a barrister and was a healthy young woman until 2013, when she experienced an accident at work. She is now a double amputee, due to the severity of her CRPS. Burning Nights is a small, not-for-profit charity that does an amazing job of raising awareness of the condition, and it is a great source of comfort to and advice for sufferers.
Shortly after being elected in 2016, I was a member of the Public Petitions Committee in the Parliament. One memorable petition sought to raise awareness of sepsis as a potentially fatal condition; it still is but, at that time, that was not universally understood or acknowledged. Following the petition, the Scottish Government mounted a successful awareness campaign, and much more is now known about sepsis. I sincerely hope that that can be the outcome for CRPS sufferers, too.
As ever, hearing from someone with experience of any illness, such as Clare’s account of what her son Aidan is going through, is the most powerful way of understanding it. The same goes for the many brave and literally long-suffering members of the chronic pain cross-party group, many of whom have battled to get the treatment that they need. I hear about their suffering once every three months, but they have to endure their pain every day, and my heart goes out to them.
Last month was CRPS awareness month, during which members of the chronic pain community and their families and supporters around the world came together to help to raise awareness of the condition. Slowly, but through their determination, that is beginning to happen. As part of the initiative, colour the world orange day involved businesses, town halls and landmarks changing their lights to orange in support of people who live with CRPS.
The volunteers and organisers of CRPS UK and the Burning Nights campaign group should be praised for their great efforts to raise awareness of this little-understood condition. If this debate helps open the gateway to more understanding and research into CRPS, the time spent in the chamber will have been well worth it.
I thank Clare Adamson again for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I wish her son Aidan well.
17:42