Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to address the issue of chronic pain, which I deal with on a day-to-day basis in my practice. More than 500,000 people in Ireland suffer from chronic pain, which is pain that lasts longer than three months. The prevalence of chronic pain is approximately 35% of the population. As we know, it increases with age and manual labour. Lower back pain is the most common form of chronic pain syndrome. Some 12% of people with chronic pain are unable to work or have reduced working hours. This is not only a public health problem, therefore, but it also has serious economic ramifications.

When people are in debilitating chronic pain, they often phone their general practitioner from bed because they are unable to get up or move. I have taken many of these calls over the years and visited the patients in question. A pain management clinic, led by a consultant anaesthetist who specialises in pain management, is a viable option for these patients. It is not an ideal scenario to have such clinics located more than two hours away from patients. I am not calling for an accident and emergency department in every back garden but for a much-needed facility to be established in County Mayo, where there is a population of 140,000. Patients in the county and also in County Roscommon are forced to travel either to Sligo University Hospital or University Hospital Galway to access a pain management service. These patients are usually maxed out on oral and topical medications and patches, many of which are opioids which are not good. The GP will be at the end of his or her tether because the patient has maxed out all the medications. The patients tend to be elderly and they may be forced to travel on a poor road network or on an inadequate public transport system.

Pain management clinics provide a vital service and we need one in County Mayo. The Sligo pain management model, for example, has consultant orthopaedic surgeons, consultant anaesthetists in pain management, consultant rheumatologists and specialist physiotherapists all working together as a team. There is an excellent orthopaedic service in Mayo University Hospital. Recently, after many years of campaigning, the decision was taken to provide for a visiting rheumatologist from Manorhamilton. The missing cog here is a consultant in pain medicine.

Increased interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programmes are essential to improve quality of life and they can reduce the economic burden of chronic pain in Ireland. I ask the Minister of State to investigate the possibility and feasibility of opening a pain management clinic in Mayo University Hospital.