The outsourcing of pain relief treatment in Lincolnshire has led to thousands being behind the treatment they need, it’s been claimed.
One South Holland woman was told she was among 40,000 people in the county behind on pain relief treatment, though those who run the service say the number is “significantly less” than that.
It follows the outsourcing of the Pain Management Service from the local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to Newcastle based company Connect Health in April of this year.
The Voice has spoken to several people from South Holland, many of whom haven’t had treatment or contact under Connect Health following the previous injection service being decommissioned.
Patients instead are asked to go to the likes of Mablethorpe or Skegness first for sessions on pain management before treatment is considered.
Christine Pepper (73) of Weston is classed as disabled due to the pain of working as a geriatric nurse for around 50 years.
She previously had cortizone injections, initially every three months, then following cuts, to six months.
Christine continues to care for her husband Wally (78) who has been blind since birth.
After getting a letter in the middle of June saying this scheme was going to start in April, attempts by Wally to chase up the appointments led to the couple sating Connect Health told them they didn’t have a diary of when its mobile unit was in Spalding.
They were initially offered appointments in Skegness or North Hykeham before finally being told they had an appointment at a mobile centre at the Johnson Hospital one Sunday.
However the couple say they were told by the practitioner there was no record of them.
Wally said: “He told me that the service was a mess and they were trying to sort it out.
“He said there was 40,000 people in a similar situation and I just felt like crying.
“How does it make me feel as a blind person who can’t drive being offered to take my wife, who can’t drive after injections, to appointments in the likes of Mablethorpe.
“We were told that the reason for this service is that patients would get treatment closer to home.
“Without pain relief Christine can’t settle and sleep.
“If I hadn’t got a very supportive daughter I don’t know what we’d do.
“What are they doing throwing money at these private companies and there’s no service provided?
“Those injections were expensive. We know that was the reason it was discontinued.”
Christine who is currently waiting for a new date for an MRI scan, said:
“I’ve lost a lot of my independence due to my pain.
“It’s not just me, it’s a lot of people being affected by the changes to the service.
“It used to be a good system. Now people are suffering and they’re letting them down like this.”
Others The Voice spoke to include Patricia Dunne (75) from Spalding who had four injections for the pain in her sacroillac joint in 2018 but she hasn’t had anything since August of that year.
After repeated calls where she was eventually told there was no record of
her, she wasre-referred but offered a consultation in Skegness.
“I need pain injections, not a consultation,” she said.
Brian Walsh (78) of Spalding was recommended for pain relief injections for his spine last March, but has yet to receive any.
He did attend a seminar on pain management on June but hadn’t heard anything until an appointment was offered last week for when he was due to be on holiday.
“This pain management body of people are totally without any idea of the pain its patients are in.
“This is all about how much can be made from a dumped scheme from the NHS.”
A report to Lincolnshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny committee highlighted that despite 12 months’ notice, many patients weren’t transferred to Connect Health until May.
The report states that one South Lincolnshire trust wrongly transferred patients to their GPs, one trust transferred patients without records as they didn’t have any and one trust sent the details of deceased patients.
A join statement from both South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Connect Health says: “Since launching the Pain Management Service in April 2019, Connect Health have worked extremely hard to ensure it provides the best possible service for Lincolnshire patients.
“Currently the Pain Management Service is running from 13 sites across the county and has seen 3,730 patients in its first six months.
“The CCG is in constant communication with Connect Health, and we both take any patient feedback and complaints extremely seriously.
“Patients are offered a choice of appointments and in some instances it may be that, by travelling further, a patient can choose to be seen quicker.
“We understand that it is not possible for all patients to travel further and everything possible will be done to accommodate the wishes of patients.
“With regards to the number of people waiting for appointments, the actual number of people scheduled to be seen is significantly less than has been suggested and in line with what we would expect.
“During the first three months of the service 82 percent of patients were offered an appointment within 20 working days and 100 percent of newly referred patients within the service had their follow-up appointment within 40 working days.
“We cannot discuss individual patients but the CCG and Connect Health will work together to address any concerns and/or complaints raised through the correct channels. Connect Health has engaged with a number of patients to help shape the service it provides and as a result has made improvements to patient letters and processes.”
Independent heal group Healthwatch Lincolnshire, who said it’s aware of the “challenges some patients have experienced” but that the number of concerns had decreased.
“When the new service was first rolled out, patients told us about poor levels of communication and concerns that some of the old services were not being offered under the new model, we shared these concerns with the provider, commissioner and the counties Health Scrutiny Committee.
“Although we now receive significantly less patient concerns, we will continue to keep a watching brief on activities.
“We would encourage any patient or carer experiencing concerns to share these with Healthwatch by calling us on 01205 820 892 or via email [email protected]
