Pain management service delivery implementation plan: progress report

Aim b: access to care

We will enhance access to support for people with chronic pain by improving how local and national services are planned and delivered so they have a more consistent and better coordinated experience of care.

Action 6

Convene a national expert working group to identify and scale-up Improvements in pain service planning and delivery - the Service Managers Network has been convened (see Action 8) and will be augmented by clinical and support staff as we move forward with the new implementation plan.

Action 7

Identify local barriers, opportunities and priorities from users of chronic pain services - the HIS (Health Improvement Scotland) Gathering Views on Chronic Pain report published in February 2023 looked at local barriers, opportunities and priorities from users of chronic pain services. HIS engaged with 92 people with chronic pain, from a mix of rural and urban areas across Scotland to inform this report. The report made recommendations on the following areas:

• staff understanding and attitudes
• access to support services
• types of support
• self-management and patient feedback.

The report made recommendations on the following areas:

• staff understanding and attitudes
• access to support services
• types of support
• self-management
• patient feedback

The findings are now being used to inform the work taking place across the actions within the Implementation Plan and will be reflected in our equality impact assessment to inform how we develop chronic pain policy.

Action 8

Establish a pain service managers network to improve coordination and planning of specialist - our Service Managers Network was established in October 2022 and has membership of chronic pain service managers from all Health Boards. This network meets regularly and has promoted a network of peer support and knowledge exchange. Boards have shared their models of service delivery to allow for the spread of good practice.

Action 9

Carry out a review of highly specialised pain services to enhance nationwide delivery of pain management - the Scottish National Residential Pain Management Programme continues to be provided within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This specialised programme accepts referrals from all Health Boards and is currently funded by the Scottish Government.
To support this, NHS National Services Division (NSD) conducted a minor review of the service which was presented to the National Patient, Public and Professional Reference Group (NPPPRG) and the National Specialist Services Committee (NSSC) in August and September 2022 respectively. The review supported the continued national designation of the service and recommended that face-to-face programmes should be re-established.

Action 10

Deliver a new digital approach to improve the choice of how people with chronic pain engage with services - a remote healthcare pathway was piloted at NHS Highland with a subsequent evaluation to assess its impact for services and service users. This pathway allows healthcare professionals to vet referrals to the chronic pain service and allow earlier decision-making regarding appropriate advice/treatment.

Initial meetings have taken place with two further health boards to support the scale-up of this digital pathway. Digital approaches help increase accessibility by providing different ways for patients to access services and enhances healthcare professionals decision making to ensure people receive care or treatment from the right person, with the right skills, training, and experience to best meet their needs.