3 MARCH 2022
Living with chronic pain and accessing treatment and services is challenging at all times, let alone during the pandemic with the previous stop/start lockdowns, navigating vaccinations and decreased healthcare services leading to further isolation for an already-vulnerable group in Australia. Covid-19 has put many barriers and stumbling blocks in place for individuals who experience chronic pain, and many of these issues need to be addressed. The pandemic has caused major delays to scheduled elective surgeries, impacting greatly on the lives of individuals who manage debilitating chronic pain conditions while the demand for healthcare access continues to increase exponentially.
It is critical now, more than ever, that people living with chronic pain have timely access to appropriate, high quality care, have support to self-manage their conditions and that pain researchers across Australia are resourced to develop innovative treatments and solutions to make a real difference to the lives of people with pain.
With the election on the horizon and expected to be called soon, the Federal Budget later this month is an opportunity for the Government to make a real and meaningful commitment to chronic pain as a health priority. Painaustralia’s submission to the 2022-2023 Federal Budget outlines three pressing areas requiring attention.
Painaustralia is asking for:
- Funding for a consumer tool, called the “InControl” app. This app will help consumers to self-manage their chronic pain and mental health to reduce their dependence on medications.
- Improved access to quality care for people living with chronic pain throughout Australia through a National Pain Care Program, which would be designed to deliver care through a “hub and spoke” model. This program would be underpinned by collaboration between pain specialists and primary health care professionals.
- The creation of a National Pain Research Alliance, to facilitate a coordinated approach to pain research throughout Australia. This Alliance would ensure the translation of research to improve the lives of people living daily with chronic pain.
Under the guidance of the National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management, we know what is needed to improve the lives of the 3.4 million Australians living with chronic pain.
We need to offer a higher quality level of support for people with chronic pain to manage their needs, so that they are empowered to make informed choices about their treatment options and feel enabled to take control of their daily lives.
We know that models of evidence-based care needs to be implemented throughout Australia to improve access to quality of care, and we need to empower Australian researchers to forge ahead and discover new and better ways to prevent and treat chronic pain.
Painaustralia urges the Government to address chronic pain as a priority as time really is of the essence.
The Painaustralia Budget Submission 2022-23 is available on our website here.
Monika Boogs, Acting CEO