Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure that people with chronic pain have access to non-pharmacological interventions as outlined in the NICE guideline on chronic pain.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its guideline on chronic pain in April 2021 which includes recommendations on how chronic pain can be managed through pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, such as exercise programmes, acupuncture, and psychological therapy.

While NICE’s guideline describes best practice and should be taken fully into account in the care and treatment of individual patients, it is not mandatory and does not override a medical practitioner’s clinical judgement.