Agony continues for East Lancashire pain-relief patients

1:41pm Monday 9th July 2012 in Health Photograph of the Author By Catherine Pye, Health reporter

PATIENTS with chronic pain are still being refused hospital referrals, seven months after health bosses suspended the service due to an 18-week backlog.

From January 1, the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) took the unprecedented step of telling GPs not to make referrals to the Chronic Pain Service for up to eight weeks.

The backlog meant some patients were waiting more than four months to access the services due to staffing shortages and an overload of cases.

Now, only ‘urgent’ cases are being referred, because of a lack of specialist consultants.

One 42-year-old woman from Accrington said she has twice been refused a referral for pain management after a car crash and her constant pain is ‘making me feel like it’s not worth living’.

She said: “I can’t stand up for more than five minutes without being in agony.

“I’ve got children to look after and a part-time job but because of this situation it’s making me depressed.

“They said there was an 18 week backlog but we’re in July now and the hospital think they’ve got away with it.”

Val Bertenshaw, director of operations at ELHT, said staff shortages meant they were unable to accommodate all of the demand for appointments.

“This was despite existing staff working extra sessions,” she said.

“We therefore agreed with local GPs that patients would be seen in order of priority.”

“The service provided by the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was closed to routine GP referrals thereby enabling the more urgent cases only to be treated by the trust.”

Blackburn with Darwen’s health watchdog, Coun Ron O’Keeffe, said: “My concern is that anyone suffering from severe pain should be treated urgently. There should be a limit and if a GP has tried to refer someone two or three times, they should get that service.”

A new holistic approach to pain relief has been proposed.

Dr Ian Whyte, GP and Ribblesdale Locality Lead for East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We have involved patient groups in the planning process and they are all very supportive of the new model.”

Russ McLean, of the ELMS Patient Voice Group, said: “I have recently had sight of the proposed new model for Chronic Pain Services and I shall be working very closely with Healthcare agencies to ensure that it provides the best outcomes for those patients who have chronic long-term pain conditions.”

Comments (4)

10:20pm Mon 9 Jul 12

mavrick says...

Another cutback from a health authority that just returned £3million underspend, They are now saying they are short of staff, I think the current management should be removed, This is the rundown of the NHS, The patients voice group is a toothless tiger. I wonder if Dr Whyte was suffering chronic pain would he be so blas,e with his answer. we had a service and you forced the staff out and run the service down. so how about resigning. I could suggest you go and do the job you were trained to do, or pay back the investment the NHS has put into your training and development and do another job. you have cocked this one up big style.
Another cutback from a health authority that just returned £3million underspend, They are now saying they are short of staff, I think the current management should be removed, This is the rundown of the NHS, The patients voice group is a toothless tiger. I wonder if Dr Whyte was suffering chronic pain would he be so blas,e with his answer. we had a service and you forced the staff out and run the service down. so how about resigning. I could suggest you go and do the job you were trained to do, or pay back the investment the NHS has put into your training and development and do another job. you have cocked this one up big style. mavrick

10:48pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Heretical says...

This is unbelievable.
The Hippocratic oath stresses over and over again that patient care and doing no harm is the mainstay of all healthcare.
How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing in the knowledge that patients in their care have unremitting chronic pain.
Also knowing that chronic pain alone leads to issues of further illnesses and debilitation.
This makes me fearful for the future as more cuts will come.
By the way the 3 million underspend goes where? and on what and why?
This is unbelievable. The Hippocratic oath stresses over and over again that patient care and doing no harm is the mainstay of all healthcare. How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing in the knowledge that patients in their care have unremitting chronic pain. Also knowing that chronic pain alone leads to issues of further illnesses and debilitation. This makes me fearful for the future as more cuts will come. By the way the 3 million underspend goes where? and on what and why? Heretical

11:45pm Mon 9 Jul 12

Stuart Farquar says...

Heretical wrote:
This is unbelievable. The Hippocratic oath stresses over and over again that patient care and doing no harm is the mainstay of all healthcare. How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing in the knowledge that patients in their care have unremitting chronic pain. Also knowing that chronic pain alone leads to issues of further illnesses and debilitation. This makes me fearful for the future as more cuts will come. By the way the 3 million underspend goes where? and on what and why?
'How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing' ... They are paid well to put & shut up, sadly morals don't come into it when cash is on offer.
[quote][p][bold]Heretical[/bold] wrote: This is unbelievable. The Hippocratic oath stresses over and over again that patient care and doing no harm is the mainstay of all healthcare. How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing in the knowledge that patients in their care have unremitting chronic pain. Also knowing that chronic pain alone leads to issues of further illnesses and debilitation. This makes me fearful for the future as more cuts will come. By the way the 3 million underspend goes where? and on what and why?[/p][/quote]'How can a'doctor' with moral conscience stand by and do nothing' ... They are paid well to put & shut up, sadly morals don't come into it when cash is on offer. Stuart Farquar

11:13am Tue 10 Jul 12

Pendlesider says...

Any hospital board that refuses to promptly treat GP referred patients who are in pain should be placed under emergency procedures with patients treated outside the area and the board replaced with one with compassion and a head for management in the NHS.
.
for example, why is there still an 18 week backlog after seven months? Surely this trust have actually managed to recruit at least ONE specialist to alleviate the backlog? or am I being too optimistic..
.
as for this trust's £3 million underspend (surplus) mentioned in the comments, that figure I note was surplus ONLY on one part of the PFI (the £113m build at Blackburn), so effectively the £3m surplus isn't actually a surplus at all since this would be eaten up as interest with the rest of the PFI deals (i.e. at Burnley hospital).
.
the director of operations for this trust needs replacing, they are constantly making excuses about why services cannot be provided yet at the same time claim to be in a sound financial position to achieve foundation trust status. this trust should never get such status until they have a board with a conscience that puts patients wellbeing before financial considerations.
Any hospital board that refuses to promptly treat GP referred patients who are in pain should be placed under emergency procedures with patients treated outside the area and the board replaced with one with compassion and a head for management in the NHS. . for example, why is there still an 18 week backlog after seven months? Surely this trust have actually managed to recruit at least ONE specialist to alleviate the backlog? or am I being too optimistic.. . as for this trust's £3 million underspend (surplus) mentioned in the comments, that figure I note was surplus ONLY on one part of the PFI (the £113m build at Blackburn), so effectively the £3m surplus isn't actually a surplus at all since this would be eaten up as interest with the rest of the PFI deals (i.e. at Burnley hospital). . the director of operations for this trust needs replacing, they are constantly making excuses about why services cannot be provided yet at the same time claim to be in a sound financial position to achieve foundation trust status. this trust should never get such status until they have a board with a conscience that puts patients wellbeing before financial considerations. Pendlesider

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