Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant calls out Scottish Government for ‘downplaying’ effects of chronic pain
A Highland MSP has raised concerns over the Scottish Government downplaying the impact of chronic pain in people’s lives.
Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, is set to meet Minister for Public Health, Jenny Minto, after the issue of medical support available to those affected by long-term pain was highlighted by The Herald earlier this week.
In December, Ms Grant had contacted the minister inquiring about a controversial report, contesting the use of a designation of a “no impact” pain category — with people who were marked in this category being all from Inverness.
She said this raised further concerns that “the Scottish Government might be “intentionally downgrading pain services in the Highlands” after the publication of a controversial report.”
Mrs Grant said: “Freedom of Information requests have uncovered shocking testament which backs up the long-held views of many pain sufferers that the Scottish Government is trying to downplay the impact long-term pain has on 800,000 people throughout Scotland.
“Research carried out on behalf of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain has uncovered deception and minimisation of the effects that chronic pain has on people’s lives, both physically and mentally.”
Respinding to Mrs Grant, the Minister admitted that the ‘“no impact” categorisation was introduced into the report at the behest of Scottish Ministers.
The letter stated that participants “did not use the term ‘no impact’ themselves.”
It said: “This term was proposed by the Scottish Government as a contraction of ‘did not experience any limitation on life or work activities over the past three months.
“Whilst you rightly indicate that comments from these participants indicate that they had experienced impact at some point from chronic pain, they had, at the time of recruitment, told the recruiters that they currently did not experience any impact.”
Freedom of Information requests have revealed that participants were paid £200 to take part in the survey, which was advertised on Facebook.
The Minister also advised Mrs Grant in her letter that “the screening questionnaire did not directly ask participants about whether their condition had been diagnosed by a health professional.”
Mrs Grant continued: “For the Scottish Government to ignore genuine pain patients and pay others to get the results they want is beyond reproach, but to insult the efficacy of the Parliament’s Cross-Party Groups adds insult to injury.
“People attend these groups in a bid to bring the issue to the attention of the people who can make the decisions to improve their quality of life.”
Responding to The Herald's articles and specific questions on chronic pain, a Scottish Government spokesperson told The Herald: "We remain committed to improving the quality of life and wellbeing for people with chronic pain. Meaningful and transparent engagement with people living with chronic pain is a priority part of the improvement work set out in our Pain Management Service Delivery Implementation Plan.”
“While we engage regularly with cross-party groups, they are informal groupings of MSPs and other people and groups with an interest in a specific subject which are not part of the formal parliamentary structure for scrutinising Government.”
