Should people today be expected to live with chronic pain if it can be eased by an injection? Ask those who have been stopped from having them, and the answer is a resounding ‘no’.
NHS North Yorkshire and York has decided against routinely funding spinal injections for back pain, saying it must focus on buying services giving the best possible clinical outcomes to ensure value for money. Decisions appear to be made by accountants rather than doctors whose priority should be the well being of the patient.
In this video I recorded, Gordon Hart explains what all this means to him. His chronic back pain was so agonising that he was unable to lie still long enough to have a hospital scan. He couldn’t sleep in a bed and spent the night sitting up in a chair.
I spent yesterday with Julian Sturdy, our Conservative parliamentary candidate in York Outer, who invited Shadow Health Minister Mark Simmonds to meet chronic back pain sufferers for a campaign he is supporting.
The York & District Pain Management Support Group is justifiably angered by the decision to no longer routinely fund these spinal injections.
Mark was sympathetic with the group’s plight:
“Clearly continuous back pain is an unsatisfactory, and it would appear that management is overriding clinical priorities. Our proposals are to get GPs to lead commissioning as they best understand the needs of their patients.
“An incoming Conservative government would make health services centered around the patient and would change the focus which is currently meeting centrally delivered targets to one which is focused on maximising patient outcomes.â€
Julian hopes the PCT will reconsider its decision and hopes to get this back on the agenda to improve the quality of life for those who are in chronic pain, and alleviate some of the stress this causes their families.
“I believe the PCT’s decision to implement this cost-cutting measure following a recommendation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is flawed. It is yet another example of postcode lottery in the health service as people living in East and West Yorkshire can have these injections, while it is being denied to those in York and North Yorkshire. This is not acceptable.â€
back pain is such a common problem, it needs to be looked at.
What ever next for Mr Sturdy “I oppose death” or “I want less road traffic accidents”.
Come on, this is just piffle backed by no extra money or new priorities from the tories, just a poor attempt to win votes from people with back pain.
As someone who suffers from a bad back, I agree with the sentiments, but without any new money, its just platitudes and no plan to deliver.
Hi Nich, I have no idea what you mean by your first sentence, it doesn’t make sense to me. What relevance does it have to this post? Can you please explain it?
The people who are suffering from chronic back pain would not agree with your view that this is “just piffle”. You probably haven’t played the video before writing your comment. If you had done, you would have heard Gordon describe how the loss of these injections are affecting his life, as well as Julian and our Shadow Health Minister. A local GP also attended as he is supporting the group. How can people in chronic pain be denied these injections?
Mark Simmonds has clearly stated the Conservative response to this dilemma:
“Clearly continuous back pain is unsatisfactory, and it would appear that management is overriding clinical priorities. Our proposals are to get GPs to lead commissioning as they best understand the needs of their patients.”
Can you tell me what the Liberal Democrats plan to do?
For those who don’t know Nich, he is a Lib Dem blogger.
Thanks for Julian Sturdy for campaigning for the back pain treatment and remedies to create awareness in the people about pain management.