Pain
(asked on 7th March 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that general practitioners, nurses and pharmacists are competent in the routine assessment and management of chronic pain.
The routine assessment and management of pain is a required competency of all healthcare professionals. Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. Approaches to treatment are not all pharmacological; education in self-management techniques to aid symptom control may also be appropriate for some patients.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance on the assessment and management of chronic pain aimed at all settings in which National Health Service and local authority commissioned care is provided. The guidance is expected to be published on 19 August 2020. Guidance scope for the NICE clinical guidance document in development can be found via the following link: