Meeting of the Parliament 16 November 2022
I welcome today’s opportunity to discuss our commitment to support the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland who live with chronic pain. We can all experience pain as part of our bodies’ normal response to injury or illness, but, when pain lasts beyond the normal expected healing time or has no identifiable underlying cause, some people experience chronic pain.
Clinically, chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for longer than three months, and it is estimated that, in the UK, somewhere between 20 and 50 per cent of adults are affected by it at some point. Although some people might be able to access specific treatment, such as a joint replacement, that helps to restore their quality of life, it is estimated that around 5 per cent of the population in Scotland are living with severe chronic pain that adversely affects all aspects of their lives.
When we talk about chronic pain, especially for that group that faces the greatest challenges, we must remember that everyone’s experience of pain is unique and that people need support that addresses their individual needs.
I have met people with chronic pain who have told me how distressing the condition can be but also how, with the right information and support, they have regained control of their lives and improved their quality of life. However, I know that many people do not feel that they have access to the support that they need, which is why we published the “Framework for pain management service delivery—implementation plan” in July. The plan sets out the priorities for the improvement of care and services, which were informed by people who have chronic pain, and the actions that we will take to support people who live with pain to live well.
The framework was developed through extensive engagement with people with chronic pain, our services, clinicians and the third sector. That included public consultation on a draft of the framework. I thank everyone who participated in those activities and shared their priorities, which have informed the implementation plan. The plan has 18 actions that are centred around the four aims of the framework. Those are person-centred care, accessible care, safe and effective care, and improving care and services.
Given the varying impact that chronic pain has on general health and wellbeing, different people require different levels of support that are tailored to their unique circumstances. That is why person-centred care is one of the aims of our framework. We have set out actions that will deliver more consistent advice; improve the understanding of pain and its impact among our healthcare workforce; and promote local, holistic support to address the wider impact of chronic pain on people’s wellbeing.
We have heard from people with chronic pain about how challenging it can be to find clear and consistent information. In response, we have established a national expert working group that is dedicated to overseeing the improvement and co-ordination of information and resources at the national and local levels.
Our starting point for that work will be a user needs assessment through which people with chronic pain can tell us exactly what they need from national resources such as NHS Inform. That will ensure that we deliver more useful and appropriate national advice about chronic pain and better information on the steps that people can take to manage its impact and how they can access further support and services when needed.
People with chronic pain are already experts on their condition, but we know that many benefit from additional supported self-management offered by our partners in the third sector. Our framework is establishing a dedicated third sector network to improve partnership working with our public services, so that people with chronic pain can access a greater range of options for support.
For example, Pain Association Scotland delivers resilience-building sessions to empower people with chronic pain to self-manage their condition as part of their care.