Primary Gains: reduction in GP aPPointments after at- tendinG a Pain manaGement ProGramme

Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain are high users of healthcare services and have a significant impact on resources. Pain is one of the most common reasons people see their General Practitioner (GP)1 and it is estimated that chronic non-malignant back pain alone costs the NHS £12.3bn per year2. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is complex and causes significant levels of distress and disability. Multidisciplinary pain management programmes (PMPs) are recommended by NICE3 to reduce the distress and disability associated with chronic pain. However, in today’s economic climate it is not enough to be just clinically effective, services also need to be cost effective or even demonstrate reductions in cost. This effect has been demonstrated by PMPs in secondary care4 but there is little research on the impact of PMPs on primary care appointments. The present research aimed to examine the effect of attending a PMP on primary care pain-related appointments.