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Written question asked by Jimmy Wray (Labour) on Thursday, 17 July 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 September 2003. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 8 September 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to assist people living with persistent pain; what pain relief drugs are available; and if he will make a statement on the (a) effectiveness of such drugs and (b) problems with their side effects. (Info in Library Dep 03/2178).
Answer

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to assist people living with persistent pain; what pain relief drugs are available; and if he will make a statement on the (a) effectiveness of such drugs and (b) problems with their side effects. [128078] Mr. Hutton: Pain management is an important component of most patients' care. The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) report on pain services, published in 2000, highlighted variations in access to pain services throughout the country. The report made recommendations to National Health Service acute trusts and commissioners on how pain services should be delivered in order to reduce the variations to access. It recommended that primary care trust commissioners should review local provision of pain services, looking particularly at the provision of more specialised treatments on a networked basis. In this review, account should be taken of the needs of both adults and children, and include patients with acute pain resulting from sudden illness or accident, as well as post- operative pain and chronic pain. Trusts should agree with commissioners the services that are appropriate to meet local needs. All medicines are assessed before licensing by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with independent expert advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). A licence will not be granted unless the MHRA and the CSM are satisfied that the medicine meets appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy at the time of licensing. Details of the different classes of medicines used in the treatment of persistent pain and their side effects are contained within the British National Formulary (section 4.7, page 208, BNF 45, March 2003), a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
128078; 410 c251W
Session
2002-03
Subjects
Drugs Medical treatments Pain Side effects
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk