‘Baffling’ lack of money spent on reducing chronic pain waiting times

Chronic pain conditions receive just 0.05 per cent of the NHS Scotland’s £535 million fund to reduce waiting times, new figures reveal.

Just £27,000 of the Waiting Times Improvement Plan funding is being put towards chronic pain conditions despite some patients waiting two years for appointments, the Health Secretary has admitted.

Scottish Labour, who obtained the figure in a parliamentary question answered by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, described the amount spent in 2018-19 as “baffling”.

The party’s health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, called for a review of waiting times for chronic pain patients, arguing that 800,000 people across Scotland are suffering from missed targets.

Ms Lennon said: “The target for chronic pain waiting times has never been met since it was introduced, with over a third of patients having to wait longer than four months to be seen for an initial appointment.

“So it’s completely baffling that such a small amount – less than half a percent – of the £535 million fund to improve waiting times is being spent on chronic pain.

“The thousands of Scots who are waiting, in pain, for months on end surely deserve better than this.

“The Health Secretary clearly needs to get a grip on chronic pain waiting times and provide answers about why more money is not being spent to improve them.

“That’s why Scottish Labour has been consistently calling for a review of what’s going wrong, because, after 12 years, it’s simply unacceptable that chronic pain waiting times are showing no improvement.”