Dismay for back-pain sufferers as health chiefs decide injections must be vetted (From York Press)

Dismay for back-pain sufferers as York health chiefs decide injections must be vetted

9:00am Monday 15th February 2010 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

ANGRY back-pain sufferers in York are protesting against a move by health chiefs which could block them from having jabs to ease their agony.

One of NHS North Yorkshire and York’s top doctors will be urged to reverse a decision to add spinal injections to a list of procedures which cannot be carried out before cases are vetted by a panel.

A protest group says the impact will be “disastrous” and alternative treatments, such as acupuncture and physiotherapy will not work.

Sufferers are to confront Dr David Geddes, NHS North Yorkshire and York’s medical director, at a York meeting this week.

Gordon Hart, of the York & District Pain Management Support Group, which has organised the meeting, said: “It’s disastrous for those concerned because many rely on these injections to give them any quality of life whatsoever.

“Patients are not even considered for this treatment until other things have been tried, so we don’t understand why alternative therapies are being mentioned. The people asking for these injections are those who desperately need them – now they may not get them.

“About 300 people in York have been having injections and may need them again, and these aren’t just the elderly – they include young people who can’t hold down jobs and provide for their families without this treatment.

“We hope to put pressure on NHS North Yorkshire and York to reverse this decision and this week’s meeting is the beginning, but if that doesn’t work, we will start making bigger waves.”

NHS North Yorkshire and York chose not to routinely fund spinal injections for back pain last November, saying it must focus on buying services giving the best possible clinical outcomes to ensure value for money.

It has insisted the procedures are not being stopped, with clinicians who feel a patient would benefit from the treatment being able to ask the funding request panel to consider individual cases, and that the move is not a cost-cutting exercise with the trust facing an £8 million deficit this year.

Dr Geddes said: “We have been in close dialogue with the York and District Pain Management Support Group and I am grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to explain the reasons for taking these necessary measures.

“If there are any patients in the area who have questions or concerns, I would urge them to come along to the meeting and I will do my best to answer them.”

• THE meeting of the York & District Pain Management Support Group, takes place at the Folk Hall in New Earswick at 7pm on Wednesday.

More information is available by phoning the group’s secretary, Alan Hartley, on 01757 210489 or emailing him at awhhartley@hotmail.com.

Those who need help with transport to get to the meeting should phone Nina on 01904 794287 or Jill on 01904 708490.

‘The pain is so bad that it’s difficult to walk’

AFTER 25 years of battling crippling back pain, a York pensioner now believes she will be among those to lose out through NHS North Yorkshire and York’s stance on spinal injections.

The 66-year-old, who does not wish to be named, has been told there is no guarantee she will receive the treatment – but that if she lived a few miles away from her current home, putting her in the area covered by the neighbouring NHS East Riding of Yorkshire Trust, there would be no problem.

“I’ve had problems with my spinal discs for 25 years and had my first injection about two years ago, but 18 months later it had worn off,” she said. “I was desperate it was getting to the point where I knew I would end up in the same situation as before – unable to even put my foot to the floor – so my doctor wrote to the York Pain Clinic and I was put on a waiting list for another injection.

“But then I found out I could not have it, and although the clinic have written to NHS North Yorkshire and York about my case, I still haven’t heard anything.

“I’ve been told that if I lived in Pocklington or Beverley, I would get the injection.

“The pain is now so bad that it’s difficult to walk – I feel as if I have got bricks in my feet.”