Pain Management Task Force minutes: December 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Richard Brewster, Long Term Conditions Policy Unit, Scottish Government (Chair)

• Martin Cardno, National Centre for Sustainable Delivery

• Nina Cockton, Psychology Lead Network

• Kieran Dinwoodie, General Practitioner

• Samantha Mason, Pain Concern

• Jacqueline Watson, National Lead for Pain Management

• Tracy Robertson, AHP Network Lead

• Anne Wallace, Professional Advisor

• Aline Williams, Pain Service Managers Network Lead

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

Attendees introduced themselves round the call.

Minutes of previous meeting

Minutes from meeting on 15 October 2025 were accepted.

Framework progress updates

Action 13: Interventions Review. Draft outcomes from the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) review of chronic pain interventions, had been shared with stakeholders at a recent meeting. Final recommendations were expected at the end of January 2026. A short-life working group (SLWG) would convene in January to develop a national consensus on the outcomes of the SHTG review.

Chronic Pain Waiting Times Data. New waiting times data was published on 9 December 2025 that reflected updated methodology. Some members of the group attendees reported broken links and this would be followed up with Public Health Scotland if issues persisted.

Workforce Workstream. Two meetings of the SLWG had been held since October; with the next meeting scheduled for February. Additional comments were to be incorporated into the workforce document. Psychological terminology was being refined. A revised draft would be circulated ahead of the February meeting.

Action 7: Core Minimum Dataset. The proposal was to revisit the national core minimum dataset to improve comparability across services. A SLWG would seek representatives from each board. Challenges around digital collection tools were highlighted, and alignment with upcoming Patient Reported Experience Measures pilot work were discussed.

CPIN primary care toolkit update

An overview of the Chronic Pain Interface Network (CPIN) and toolkit was provided. Approximately 90 members were reported across multiple boards. Recordings and outputs were available via Teams. A national version of the decision aid was in development, with Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT) pathways, emphasis on long-term condition framing, de-prescribing support, and appropriate pain advice options aiming to provide a holistic, flexible and deliverable approach.

There had been interest in piloting from East Lothian, Shetland. Members expressed strong support for wider sharing. Remote board engagement and data collection considerations were discussed.

Any other business

No additional items were raised.