A new Healthcare Improvement Scotland report shows that across Scotland a postcode lottery of pain management services exists, where only small percentages of those who are suffering from chronic pain are being referred for treatment - despite the SNP promising to improve services and provide additional resources.

The update report, which has been delayed by 7 months, shows that there are few dedicated resources for the 80,000 children in Scotland who suffer from chronic pain and despite around 10-14% of the Scottish adult population suffering from significant pain, the report fails to outline the resources that are available within the NHS in Scotland. Instead, more than £1 million has been spent on sending Scots to Bath in Somerset for chronic pain treatment.

Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie said:

"While pain services for adults are still grossly inadequate, it is utterly heart-breaking to think that children in pain are at the very bottom of the scale. Claiming that the three children's hospitals have "multidisciplinary children's pain management services", when there are not dedicated staff, indicates the Government is spending more on spin doctors than on real doctors for children.

"This is a grim legacy of Nicola Sturgeon's time as health secretary. She refused outright to put any money into staffing and funding Scottish chronic pain services for adults or children. Instead she preferred to spend over £1 million to send pain patients to Bath in Somerset to get treatment.

“Coming in a week when the SNP Government were caught out misleading people about legal advice on entry to the European Union, their credibility is further damaged by trying to mislead us about the extent of pain services in Scotland.”