Scottish Government : Health and Social Care Resources

Chronic pain is a Long Term Condition and affects many aspects of day to day life and wider health, and is associated with poorer mental health, reduced  life satisfaction and quality of life. It also an increasing problem with an aging population who have more complex health needs due to its association with multimorbidity frailty and resultant polypharmacy.

The complex nature of pain and its impact therefore demands that services recognise and provide person-centred care to appropriately address the impact of the condition. This requires collaborative working across primary and secondary settings and professional disciplines to achieve earlier recognition, effective intervention and continued support where appropriate from health and care services.

Chronic pain is a common condition and estimates suggest it affects between one third and a half of adults in the UK. In Europe, approximately 18% of the population are currently affected by moderate to severe chronic pain. It has a considerable impact on quality of life resulting in significant suffering and disability (SIGN guidelines). In Scotland it is estimated that 5% report severe chronic pain, which impacts their daily activities and quality of life

The focus to date has been on Primary Care and the Primary / Secondary Care Interface to improve access to specialist pain management earlier in the patient pathway to improve patient outcomes, effective prescribing and reduce demand on Secondary Care services.

The MPPP work programme to date has included:

1. Primary / Secondary Care Interface

2. Developed and implementing an effective prescribing toolkit for GP's

3. Identifying and supporting educational opportunities to increase provision of specialist pain expertise in Primary Care

In addition, 21 projects across 11 Scottish Health Boards were funded, between 2020 and 2022, to test ways of improving access to specialist pain support in Primary Care, and test out the idea of a Scottish Pain Service Model Level 2.5. Please note that you can access this survey report by referring to the 'Resources' section of this page

In terms of next steps around the CfSD Chronic Pain Programme of work for FY 2023 / 2024, we have three particular areas of focus which are around the following:

1. Process

- Set up Chonic Pain Interface Group (CPIN)

- Share Best Practice, Celebrating Success of level 2.5 projects

2. Innovation

- Communication, providing support between Primary Care and Secondary Care

To contact the CfSD Chronic Pain team, please email us at gjnh.cfsdpcscinterface@gjnh.scot.nhs.uk

Follow CfSD via Twitter @NHSScotCfSD or by clicking on the left image

You can also refer to our CfSD Website which can be accessed by clicking on the left image