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"Unable to access pain management/acupuncture"

About: Crosshouse Hospital

(as a service user),

I am a Veteran injured in Service, who receives/received acupuncture for my nerve damage, 

For over a year I have heard rumours that acupuncture for chronic pain patients was being cancelled. I noticed sessions getting less and less and started querying it. I asked time and again, for confirmation that acupuncture for chronic patients was being stopped, so I could ask the Ministry of Defence at Norcross to fund it instead. Time and again, and in writing, I was told it was not being stopped. Therefore Norcross would not fund private treatment. I eventually asked one of the staff who does the acupuncture and was told quite clearly several months ago that it was being cancelled for chronic patients and we would all get a letter . I got a letter from stating that staff denied having said it was being cancelled. Good job I have the conversation recorded then, or I would think I had a really serious brain disorder and had started hearing things!

After months of pushing I finally got an appointment. On the day, after my treatment, I was informed, at full volume, in a busy reception area, by a receptionist, that I was to have no more appointments until the review. I feel that the medical staff, involved in my care, should have given me this information privately. Instead I was left embarrassed and quite angry. I feel this was a breach of privacy and a show of massive disrespect.
 Finally I had the meeting and at the end it was agreed that the acupuncture worked for me and my treatment was to continue .I have had one session since that agreement on my on going treatment.
Yesterday, I received a letter, stating that acupuncture for chronic pain was being stopped and the next appointment would be the last. 
On phoning to ask for a meeting the member of staff I spoke to was rude, to the point of obnoxious, unhelpful and told me that I couldn't have a meeting.   I was told that I would have to be re-referred by whoever referred me in the first place. 
Considering the letter itself states that a review can be asked for, even without the disgraceful attitude, these comments are unsupported. 
So not only have I been lied to , in writing, that the treatment wasnt being stopped for chronic patients, staff after telling me the truth lied about doing so, I have also been lied to when I was told my treatment would continue ( good job I took a witness with me) and now I am being lied to about having to be re-referred.
On top of all of this, if a treatment is available on the NHS , they are supposed to supply said treatment to Veterans with a condition that benefits from it. 
So now, after having been lied to time and again, about a treatment that is available, and does help my condition, the treatment continues to be supplied , at my local hospital , but I am unable access it or have it paid for privately by Norcross.

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 5 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 19/06/2018 at 12:02
Published on Care Opinion at 13:55


picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear again,

I have been asked to post this on behalf of Charles Martin, our Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management.

"I would like to clarify our position about acupuncture.

The decision to withdraw acupuncture was taken by the pain management team after much discussion over a period of months. There are a number of reasons for this. Our general philosophy for the management of persistent pain is one of guided self management. Acupuncture relies on a health care professional for its delivery and is therefore not consistent with this approach. I appreciate that you find this intervention helpful; however, there is a lack of evidence to support its use in persistent pain. We also had to take into account the current financial position and we are struggling to fund other aspects of our service, particularly clinical psychology. Our decision to withdraw acupuncture is in accordance with other pain services in Scotland; they have also withdrawn their acupuncture services.

Our pain service had a number of patients attending repeatedly for acupuncture over a number of years. We realised that this would be a difficult decision for these individuals. We prepared a letter outlining the reasons behind the decision and also the alternative management strategies. The letter was distributed to all patients affected and their GPs were informed. Written information about self management was included. All patients are all being offered a review appointment with one of the medical staff in the team.

Clearly, Care Opinion is an anonymous platform but I believe there is a review appointment made for you and we can discuss any further treatment and concerns you may have.

I am sorry that you have been given conflicting information about this service and feel that on occasions that you were not treated with the respect we expect from our team. I will circulate this post for us all to reflect on.

Kind regards,

Charles Martin

Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management"

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by again (a service user)

I do not feel the situation is honestly displayed.

On a more broad level I think the comment ''we are struggling to fund other aspects of our service, particularly clinical psychology'' is basically irrelevant. I believe it is unlikely that any saving from the cancellation of acupuncture will go directly to psychology services and that it is unlikely it will make a difference to much, let alone any one service.

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