Airing Pain 121: Living with Persistent Pain in Wales

Discussing the future of chronic pain services across Wales

This edition of Airing Pain has been partially funded by an educational grant from Grünenthal Limited, donated for this purpose.

In April 2019, the Minister for Health and Social Services in Wales launched the guidance document Living with Persistent Pain in Wales. Later, in December, the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition brought together some of Wales’s leading pain experts at the home of the Welsh parliament (or Senedd Cymru) in Cardiff, at an event chaired by Neil Betteridge, co-chair of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition, a group which brings together a wide range of chronic pain stakeholders including professional bodies, patient organisations, parliamentarians and industry representatives from across the UK.

This edition of Airing Pain was recorded live at the event, where clinicians, academics, policy-makers and people living with pain came together to discuss both the new document and the future of chronic pain services across the region.

With thanks to the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition, the Welsh Government and the conference organisers for facilitating the recording of this event.

Issues covered in this programme include: Arthritis, availability of pain services, education, equality, exercise, fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic primary pain, funding of pain services, GP, opioids, osteoarthritis, physiotherapy, policy, referral scheme, rheumatology, society, policy, visibility and Welsh government.

Contributors:

• Neil Betteridge, Co-Chair, Chronic Pain Policy Coalition
• Dr Paul Cameron, Specialty Advisor to the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
• Professor Ernest Choy, Head of Rheumatology, Cardiff University
• Mary Cowern, Wales Director, Versus Arthritis
• David Easton, Physiotherapist, Hywel Da NHS Trust
• Dr Lucy Morris, GP partner, Bellevue Practice, Newport
• Professor Ann Taylor, Professor in Medical Education, Cardiff University.

More information:

• The Chronic Pain Policy Coalition – chronicpainpolicycoalition.com
• Versus Arthritis – versusarthritis.org
• Welsh Pain Society – welshpainsociety.org.uk
• Living with Persistent Pain in Wales PDF guidelines.