Pain Management Task Force minutes: October 2022

Attendees and apologies

Nicci Motiang, Unit Head Clinical Priorities (deputy Chair)
Lois Lobban, Senior Policy Manager, Rehabilitation
Louise McInnes, National Implementation Lead, Chronic Pain
Rory Mackenzie, Interim Deputy Clinical Director, CfSD
Stephen Martin, Unit Head, Realistic Medicine
Helen Moores-Poole, AHP Advisor, Primary Care
James O’Malley, Senior Policy Manager, Chronic Pain
Sharon Robertson, Policy Manager, Chronic Pain
Liam Gray, Policy Manager, Chronic Pain
Martin Dunbar, Chair - Third Sector Network
Lynn Railston, Public Health Scotland (PHS)  
Nicola Rhind, National Clinical Lead, Chronic Pain

Apologies:    
Lynne Nicol, Deputy Director of Planning and Quality (Chair)
Moira Nelson, Team Leader, Chronic Pain and Endometriosis

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

The deputy Chair welcomed all attendees and noted the apologies received.

Approval of minutes of last meeting and actions

The Minutes were agreed and formalised.

The task force were asked to note that most of the actions from the last meeting have been completed. The task force were asked to note that the Network Leads would attend the November meeting.

Framework launch timeline update 

The task force was advised that an engagement event was delivered in October with the Health and Social Care Alliance, their membership organisations, and members of the Chronic Pain Patient Reference Group in order to socialise and spread information about the implementation plan. Noted that it was well received and had a positive number of attendees at the meeting. 

The task force was advised that the hope is to launch the quarterly regular newsletter beginning in November, the aim is to provide wider engagement and to provide the latest information on the progress of each of the aims.

The task force was advised that Ministers are meeting with the Convenors of the Cross Party Groups of Chronic Pain and Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions at the beginning of November.

Implementation Progress Appendix B

Action 1 - The task force was advised that the working group has started and membership has been confirmed for the majority of the group, although a couple outstanding memberships to chase including the Medics and Service Management team. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 2 - The task force was advised that Scottish Government has moved the translations work to later on in the year as it makes more sense financially. The Lines Between have sent a draft proposal of the user needs assessment and this will go to NHS24 for approval, This should be completed and be presented at the SWLGA group meeting in November. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Actions 3, 4 and 14 - The task force was advised that the knowledge and skills framework is with the networks for feedback and that feedback is due at the end of October. There is an agreement with NES about how they will support the Chronic Pain knowledge hub on TURAS. The ask for the task force is to acknowledge there may be some slippage with timescales.

Action 5 -  The task force was advised that a chair has been appointed to the Third Sector Network to take forward the network, the steps are in process; identifying memberships, Create meetings in the diary and initial thoughts on the work plan. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 6 - The task force was advised this group has not started as of yet. It is planned to begin in 2023. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 7 - The task force was advised that HIS Engagement work was completed 13th October, and SG are waiting on the final report from the NHS Healthcare team which is due 4th November. Draft participation figures were also sent from HIS and there has been a good response so far. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 8 – The task force was advised that there is no action reporting template for this, the official start date was September 2022 but unfortunately the meeting was postponed, The meeting has been re-organised for October but there was minimal attendance and apologies. The task force discussed potential solutions including reconsidering the day meetings were taking place and the nomination of deputes to attend. 

there was a query about setting up individual networks rather than bringing everyone together and risk of missing opportunity for wider thinking and challenges to inform implementation of the plan.  The task force was advised that in the revised governance structure that is now in place the various networks are convened together via a Network Leads meeting and we trying to coordinate this in order for the work streams to be aligned.

Action 9 – The task force was advised the funding structure in place for the residential centre will continue, one of the outputs is that this was the first review since the inception of the centre and it was well recognised and the value the centre has.  The Scottish government,  National Services Division and the centre are working towards agreeing a development plan for the future specifically analysing in-person delivery and the digital delivery. This is an opportunity to source a nationally agreed quality improvement approach.

Action 10 – The task force was advised that the remote healthcare pathway user agreement was endorsed at the last meeting of the delivery group for this work in September 2022, the pilot is underway in NHS Highland and a cohort of patents have been identified. The taks force are meeting in December so there will be feedback on the pilot at this meeting. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 11 – The task force was advised that an update request for SIGN 136 has been submitted to the HIS Evidence Directorate and a meeting is arranged in December. feedback will be sent to Scottish Governement after December’s meeting. The project team leading Action 13 at GGC fed into the relevant section of the SIGN 136 proposal, and this will be discussed as part of the wider discussions.There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Action 12 – The task force was advised that this action overlaps with other actions and that the update is this group is up and running and there is coordination where appropriate across pain working groups e.g. a member of the SLWGA is joining the Medicines Working Group. It could potentially be amalgamated with one action depending on the first phase of activity the action lands on, i.e. if it’s information bound it is aligned to our actions on NHS Inform or if it’s the SIGN Guidance work then it can be amalgamated into action 11. Given the range of various links and activities it was recommended that it remains as its own Action.

Action 13 - The task force was advised that the group has not started as of yet. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time

Action 15 – The task force was advised that this is an action that is being delivered out with the Scottish Government. New credentials are being development and the feedback we are receiving is that this is a very challenging action, however the lastest update is Health Education England has potentially found a new avenue to bring this work forward. Policy will continue to liaise with colleagues in the workforce policy area.

Actions 16, 17, 18 – The task force was advised that these are still in scoping stage and initial discussing are still required. There is no specific ask for the task force at this time.

Stakeholder Involvement Lived Experience 

The task force was advised that the first phase of work has been completed and Scottish Government has been provided with a draft report. The next stage is to provide comments and approve references, a final report will be provided the first week in November. This will be shared with the task force before publication.
action – policy team  to share report with task force before publication  

Communication

The task force was advised the group that a newsletter will soon be in place for Chronic Pain that can be circulated to stakeholders and the infographic for the framework is complete.

Finance and commissioning

The task force was advised that this is a challenging financial landscape that we are working in. There isn’t much room for manoeuvre in the budget, the paper highlights some of the unforeseen impact - one point is the SNRPMP will continued to be funded by Scottish Government core rather than health boards. Another unexpected cost was the funding arrangement for Public Health Scotland, for the routine data reporting. The main ask for the taskforce is to highlight that this is our current financial position in relation to spend against the framework.

Date and time of the next meeting

Wednesday 23 November 2022