Written question asked by Linda Riordan (Labour) on Monday, 19 December 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 January 2012. It was answered by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 10 January 2012 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Pain: Clinics

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2008, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of specialist pain clinics in the NHS.

Answer: We are putting front-line clinicians in charge of the commissioning of the services needed for their local populations, including specialist pain management services. Clinical guidance to support commissioners is already available from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and from professional organisations, and a series of clinical pathways for pain management is being developed by the British Pain Society. We have also asked NICE, subject to further scoping work, to develop one or more Quality Standards for pain management which will set out the standards of care to which all national health service organisations should aspire. The recently published Atlas of Variation, drawing on information from the National Pain Audit, will give commissioners an indication of where pain management services may in particular need to be improved.

Secondary information