Patients in chronic pain forced to travel 500 miles for treatment
Tayside and Fife patients being sent 500 miles for chronic pain treatment has been branded ''utterly unacceptable''.
- By Graeme Strachan
- Published in the Courier : 20.02.12
- Published online : 20.02.12 @ 11.51am
Patients across Scotland who are suffering from chronic pain are being forced to make gruelling journeys to the south of England for treatment. The referrals are costing taxpayers a quarter of a million pounds each year on average.
Figures revealed that NHS Tayside has sent the most patients 500 miles to a specialist hospital in Bath because they cannot be treated by medics north of the Border.
Common types of chronic pain include chronic headaches, back pain and arthritic pain. Neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and fibromyalgia are also associated with the condition.
It emerged that 88 people have made the journey from Scotland since 2008/09 to be treated for chronic pain with a bill of nearly £1 million. The figures show 30 patients in Tayside and nine in Fife have made the journey to Somerset for treatment over the same period.
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: ''It is utterly unacceptable that so many patients suffering from painful conditions are being forced to undergo such long, gruelling journeys for treatment, simply because our NHS is unable to treat them here in Scotland.
''Worryingly, nowhere in Scotland is this happening more than here in Tayside. Not only is this grossly unfair on patients locally, it is costing hard-pressed taxpayers dear.
''No patient in chronic pain should have to go through this. The SNP government must redouble its efforts to get this number down to zero.''
She added: "As a matter of urgency, I urge Nicola Sturgeon to investigate what can be done to provide patients with appropriate care closer to home.''
The figures revealed the cost of sending patients with chronic pain to pain management centres outside Scotland was £229,559 in 2008/09, £201,347 in 2009/10 and £313,339 in 2010/11. The cost is already £231,757 for the current financial year.
These costs are shared across all NHS boards as part of the national risk share arrangements administered by National Services Division. Boards' contribution is calculated on their percentage share of the baseline allocation.
Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a scoping exercise in 2009 found insufficient evidence for an economic case to support the development of a residential pain management programme. She said this will now be reviewed by the Chronic Pain Steering Group in August.
She said: ''Patients referred to chronic pain clinics are covered by the 18 weeks referral to treatment target.''
Latest published figures for September 2011 showed that 89.8% of patients were seen and treated within 18 weeks from initial referral.
Photo by Flick user porschelinn
03.11pm - 20.02.2012 Edward - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Speaking as one of the patients sent down to the specialist hospital in Bath, I feel deeply disappointed with the tone of this article. It focuses not on the welfare of the patient, but rather the cost, in spite of the title. The specialists in Bath are brilliant, and help people going through some of the worst times of their lives. They help patients learn to cope with life changing pain, instead of just handing out ever stronger analgesics! It would be very hard to replicate North of the border, given the very specialist nature of the team.
07.08pm - 20.02.2012 Fran - Exeter, Devon Report This
Bath is a fantastic unit here they take the worse cases from the uk. I've been there on a four week stay /course, it was amazing, a lady from Scotland was there, so was a lady from Ireland. Everyone of us felt so privatised to get a place we weren't worried about the travell.
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