Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards so they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. Within this context, NHS Boards plan, budget for and deliver the services required to meet the assessed needs of their resident populations.

The Programme for Government 2020/21 commits to developing and improving the current Scottish Model for Chronic Pain, and to publish a new Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery in 2021. This will include building on work that was underway prior to the COVID pandemic to understand the career pathways, workforce needs and planning for pain clinics.

The Framework will also take forward a number of the recommendations of the Scottish Access Collaborative report on chronic pain. As recognised in the report, there is a need to address workforce resourcing and training to ensure a sustainable supply and retention of healthcare professionals in chronic pain services in Scotland.

On 24 September the Scottish Government published a Recovery Framework for Pain Management which set out clearly that pain management services should be considered essential in NHS Health Board remobilisation planning. The Scottish Government has consistently made clear that we will provide the necessary funding across health and care services to recognise the additional costs of responding to COVID-19 and to ensure that patient safety remains the top priority at all times. On 29 September the Scottish Government confirmed additional funding of £1.1 billion across NHS Boards and Social Care Partnerships to help them meet COVID-19 related costs and remobilisation of services.