Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help improve the training given to (a) hospital and (b) general practice doctors in (i) understanding and (ii) supporting patients who are in chronic pains.

To support all healthcare professionals in the assessment and management of chronic pain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193

The guidance includes recommendations for healthcare professionals on how to carry out a person-centred assessment when an individual presents with chronic pain, how to develop a care and support plan for a patient with chronic pain, and how to manage flare-ups of chronic pain. The guidance also includes recommendations on both pharmacological and non-pharmacological management options for chronic pain.

Building on the NICE guidelines, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has produced an e-learning course on chronic pain in adults, which is available at the following link:

https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=588

The e-learning course aims to increase understanding amongst general practitioners (GPs) about chronic pain and to educate GPs and other healthcare professionals about the physiology of pain. It gives practical advice about how the NICE guidelines can be applied to patient care. The training curriculum for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the RCGP, and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council.

Doctors are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by NICE, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.