Moray woman (72) waits 15 months for pain management appointment only to be told that NHS Grampian programme no longer exists
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A MORAY woman who suffers from chronic pain says she waited 15 months for a pain management appointment only to be told that the programme no longer exists.
Forres resident Susan Beckley (72) was referred to NHS Grampian's pain management programme by her GP in June 2022.
Having suffered from MS and osteoarthritis for more than 10 years, she hoped that it would help her manage the chronic pain that has limited her quality of life.
But earlier this month she received a letter from NHS Grampian informing her that the programme is no longer being operated due to "staffing challenges".
"I got a letter saying that I've been removed from the list and that the programme isn't running any more," Susan said.
"I waited patiently and after waiting for about a year I asked my GP why I hadn't heard anything for a year after being referred but they said that there was a year long wait so it wasn't surprising.
"Now, after 15 months of waiting, I learn that I seem to have been waiting for something that has just disappeared and that I have no help at all."
The letter claims that patients who had been on the waiting list have been redirected to other forms of support.
But Susan says she has not been advised on what these alternative forms of support are, adding that she has been left in "limbo".
She added: "My only option now is to go back to my GP which will probably take me another three or four weeks and ask to be referred to Inverness.
"I could have been on their waiting list last year as I asked to be referred to Inverness and I probably would have been near the top but now I'll have to start again.
"It's actually quite unkind to people to hold out the carrot of this pain management programme which might help and to wait for such a long time and then to take it away.
"I think patients in Moray are being left in limbo and I know I'm not alone in this."
Last month, Helen McDonald (70) shared her experiences as a chronic pain suffer living in Moray with The Northern Scot.
Like Susan, Helen was one of several constituents to voice her concerns over pain clinic waiting times with Moray MP Douglas Ross.
Mr Ross has since labelled the situation "scandalous" and has called for increased funding for pain clinics.
He said: "The situation for many of my constituents in Moray who are lying in agony is simply scandalous.
“It is astonishing that a patient like Susan can simply be struck off the waiting list for a pain clinic programme at the stroke of a pen, when she had been referred 15 months ago."
He added: "Her situation is all too typical for my constituents. Only last month NHS Grampian told me waiting times in Aberdeen for pain clinics were well over a year.
“Frontline services like these pain clinics must be properly funded by SNP ministers and patients like Susan must know where to turn to for support in their own communities.
“Right now, neither of those things are happening here in Moray which is not good enough."
NHS Grampian says it has been exploring a "range of solutions" as it continues to deal with long-term recruitment challenges.
The health board has also advised patients who have been removed from the waiting list to contact their GP.
An NHS Grampian spokesperson said: "We appreciate people waiting for appointments with the pain management team are doing so in considerable pain and discomfort, and we are exploring a range of solutions while we continue to face long-term, national challenges recruiting psychologists.
"The pain management programme is one aspect of outpatient pain services; rehabilitation, physiotherapy and medical intervention and advice are also available.
"We have a multi-disciplinary team who are now considering each referral with the expertise of specialists in all fields to make sure every possible option for best supporting individual needs is explored at pace."
