Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prescribing mindfulness-based pain management in treating chronic pain.

No specific assessment has been made. However, self-management approaches, such as mindfulness, may be appropriate for helping people manage the day to day symptoms of living with a long-term condition, such as chronic pain.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is in the process of developing the ‘Chronic Pain: assessment and management’ guideline, which is expected for publication on 19 August 2020. The guideline is looking at range of approaches relevant to the management of chronic pain, including pain self-management programmes and peer-led programmes. The guideline scope document can be found at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10069/documents/final-scope