Pain control in Welsh A&E - more information needed says Assembly Member

12.00.00am GMT Wed 28th Jan 2009

The Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black has called on Wales to follow England's lead and carry out a study into pain relief in Accident and Emergency departments.

The English study, carried out last winter by the Healthcare Commission surveyed 50,000 patients. One in seven of those asked said that staff had not done everything they could to control pain. Nearly one in four reported that the pain control they had received had only helped to some extent.

Mr. Black said:

"Patients arriving at A&E are often frightened, uncertain, and in pain. Sorting out effective pain relief as soon as possible is vital as quite apart form being a good thing in itself; it will reduce anxiety and enable better communication between staff and patients.

"Responding to patient feedback is a critical part of driving progress in the Welsh NHS. That is why we need to do our own study into pain relief in our own A&E departments here in Wales.

"Satisfaction levels with Welsh A&E departments are high at 83%, and that is a tribute to the staff who work in them. However, that doesn't mean that we can simply rest on our laurels when it comes to pain relief. After all, the corresponding satisfaction figure for English A&E in the Healthcare Commission study was 88%.

"We need the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales to do a similar survey concerning pain relief in Welsh A&E."