Pain Management Task Force minutes: April 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Lynne Nicol (Chair), Deputy Director Scottish Government 
• Stuart Stephen, National Implementation Lead for Pain Management, Scottish Government
• Rory Mackenzie, Associate Clinical Director, NHS Centre for Sustainable Delivery
• Lyn Watson, Pain Nurse Network Lead 
• Nicci Motiang, Priorities Unit Head, Scottish Government
• Moira Nelson, Chronic Pain Team Lead, Scottish Government
• Gayle McCann, Senior Policy Manager, Scottish Government
• Lois Lobban, Senior Policy Manager, Rehabilitation policy
• Helen Moores-Poole, AHP Professions Officer, Scottish Government
• Aline Williams, Service Managers Network Leads
• Martin Dunbar, Chair of Third Sector Network 
• Debs Steven, Lead Pharmacist Pain Pharmacy Network
• John Anderson, Primary Care Lead, Public Health Scotland
• Lived Experience Volunteer 

Apologies

• Nicola Rhind 
• David Craig 
• Sharon Robertson
• Stephen Martin
• Tracy Robertson 
• Lars Williams

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted the apologies received. Existing members of the Task Force welcomed our new lived experience volunteer and PHS representative. 

Approval of minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

Corrections to the minutes were discussed, minutes were approved on basis of correction and will then be published on the Scottish Government website.

Implementation progress 

Workforce

A new Short Life Working Group is being set up with first meeting to take place by end of May. Volunteers have been found through service managers network which has been instrumental in set up. The group is still looking for volunteers from clinical backgrounds. The first piece of work the group will undertake is to define what chronic pain services should be delivering and to assess the challenges currently being faced by Health Boards. 

SIGN guidelines

The clinical lead sits on SIGN guidelines group. The group are undertaking a literature review and will compile evidence tables. There are plans to produce a patient version of the guideline. 

Prescribing

A new Short Life Working Group is being set up to deliver a quality prescribing guideline for chronic pain. The work will be led by the effective prescribing team, but chronic pain policy officials will sit on the group. GPs who carry out lifestyle or wellbeing consultations and community link workers are currently being sought to join. The work is due to commence in May and will carry on for six to nine months. Lived experience volunteers are also being sought. 

Data

Work being carried forward by data group is progressing as planned. The new data collection form aims to better reflect the of the multi-disciplinary services across Scotland. The data collection form was used for the first time at the normal data collection period, which happened at the end of March. The current and updated data collection forms will be used to collect data going forward to assess if the new form is acting as required. The form will be reviewed and revised as feedback is received. 

Implementation plan risk register

The risk register was shared. Risks kept centrally for all risks in Implementation work. The group were asked if there were any additional risks which are not currently captured. Credentialling work is rated as very high due to uncertainty of work going forward. 
The group reviewed the current risks. A suggestion was made to add a residual risk and impact score. 

Action: update risk register

Lived experience on Task Force and chronic pain policy

An update was given on the selection process for lived experience volunteers for the Task Force. Of the people that applied, five were selected for informal chats. Two volunteers from this have been invited to join; one is present at this meeting and the second will join from the meeting in June. The other three people that were spoken to were also amazing candidates so we are hoping to link these volunteers to other groups which help with the delivery of the actions in the Implementation Plan. 
The expression of interest form also allowed people to register their interest to inform policy development. We will be reaching out to these people to gather their views to inform the work of Action 5 – Issues for public awareness.

Action: share with Task Force expression of interest form

Chronic Pain Hub Page and evaluation of Level 1 module

A presentation was given on the Chronic Pain Knowledge Hub Progress. The education group are working with NHS Education for Scotland to create the Chronic Pain knowledge hub. Animations have been created to help users of the Hub to figure out which level they are. Animation videos for Levels 1 (informed) and 2 (skilled) are complete, as well as videos covering the importance of the work which include lived experience volunteers. The toolkit has been renamed as the Chronic Pain Learning Toolkit. The Level 1 module is fully built and has been evaluated. The Level 2 module is expected to be completed by May and then will undergo an evaluation process. The evaluation process will include the moderation of signposting to external links. 

The completed Level 1 module was sent to a variety of stakeholders including link workers, and GP practice administrators for evaluation. Fifteen volunteers completed the evaluation and were asked about their knowledge, confidence and attitudes and beliefs pre and post module. Volunteers reported a marked improvement in confidence as well as attitudes and beliefs, with some improvement in knowledge. Next steps for the education group is the launch of the Hub and Levels 1 and 2 of the toolkit. 

The group discussed how the Hub would be signposted, there will be promotion on launch and will be cascaded through networks. A communications plan is currently being developed. 

A submission for a poster to be displayed at the NHS event in June has been submitted. The poster highlights the work done by the education group. 

The group were shown two videos which will sit on the Hub. The group noted the importance of highlighting lived experience stories on the Hub and thought the videos captured experiences well. 

Finance and commissioning

Final budget for this financial year is yet to be confirmed. The budget will be shared with the Task Force once finalised. 

Action: send out finalised budget to Task Force members

Communications

Task Force website continues to be updated and populated with minutes from previous meetings. 

Newsletter has received feedback from a third sector organisation. The feedback was useful and all members of the third sector network are being asked for their feedback on the newsletter and policy communication via a MS Form. The form will also be circulated to the other networks.

Action: share feedback form with network leads

Another other competent business

No items raised. 

Date of next meeting

Wednesday 12 June 2024 at 10.30 am via MS Teams.