Abandoning a self-help group for chronic pain victims will cost the NHS far more than it will save, according to a charity providing the service.
Many Highland patients have attended monthly sessions in Inverness over the past 16 years, hosted by the charity Pain Association Scotland.
The service has suddenly ended because NHS Highland has withdrawn a £4,000 annual donation – a quarter of the operating cost – leaving patients from as far as Lochinver and Brora “devastated.”
Charity director Sonia Cottom said: “Because those who attended got the tools to help them manage their pain and improve their quality of life, you were potentially keeping them away from re-presenting to GPs. It saved the NHS money over a long period of time.”
Morag Jamieson, 45, from Inverness, who suffers fibromyalgia, a long term condition affecting the entire body, described the service as “a lifeline to those of us with ongoing painful conditions.”
That was echoed by 61-year-old chronic fatigue victim Margaret McGregor from Inverness, who attended meetings over 12 years.
And arthritis sufferer Brenda Gibson, 64, from Lochinver, praised the “psychological approach” used by the charity’s experts to significantly help ease her discomfort.
A spokesman for NHS Highland said: “We’ve withdrawn funding for the monthly meeting because we made a decision to switch to another pain management provider.
“By using the ‘Let’s Get On With It Together’ self-management group, we hope this will allow us to provide a better service by reaching a wider number of people throughout the Highland area rather than just Inverness.”
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said the board’s decision was a “disappointing” reflection of what was happening across the voluntary sector.
“We can’t invest in services without the money from the Scottish Government,” she said, “and that’s why we were advocating tax increases.”