Forest of Dean support groups help those with chronic pain
Three women suffering from chronic pain and fatigue have spoken about the daily struggles they face after starting a group to help others.Karen Panait, 51, Louise French, 45, and Shannon Dunkley, 29, from Gloucestershire, all suffer from debilitating chronic pain conditions including fibromyalgia and scoliosis.The women described a lack of support services, adding that often medicines they were prescribed only seemed to make things worse. NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been contacted for comment.
Both Karen and Shannon were prescribed anti-depressants to try and ease their pain, but both said these had not solved their problems."We weren't depressed. We're getting depressed because we're in pain," said Karen, who set up the first support group in Lydney to provide better "empathy and understanding"."It can be soul destroying. It's scary because you're just trying to live a normal life. "And especially for all three of us as mums, you're trying to do the best you can for your kids," she added.Despite being prescribed many different anti-depressants, Shannon said they never helped, instead leaving her feeling "zombified".
Louise was initially diagnosed with hypermobility as a teenager, and her symptoms began to worsen about 12 years ago.She was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition that involves chronic pain and fatigue, as well as other conditions including arthritis and diabetes."For years, I just wasn't the person that I was before. I don't think I'll ever be that person again," said Louise."One of the big things is the fact that I'm a different mum."All three of my children have been my carers. When I can't get out of bed, they've cooked. They helped me get dressed when I can't move."It's not just us that it impacts. It's the people that we live around and the people that are closest to us that are impacted because their lives aren't their lives anymore, because they have to constantly make sure that we're all right," she said.Recognising a lack of services available to support people living with chronic pain conditions, the three women decided to take matters into their own hands.They set up chronic pain groups across the Forest of Dean, offering people struggling with these issues a "safe space" to come and chat and support each other.
With the help of social prescriber - which links people to a wide range of community groups and services - Karen set up the first support group in Lydney.Now, 15 months later, there are also support groups in Coleford and Cinderford."You feel understood. There's empathy, understanding, and there's even friendship in the groups," said Karen."One thing we find in particular with the younger members of the group is some of the girls started suffering when they were at school. "They feel very isolated because they'd come out of school and not been able to work. But they've met other young people with the same problems as them and they're now being supported within their own peer groups," she added.
The groups have the support of other health practices in the area and have recently had GPs attending the sessions.The three women are eager to help set up more support groups across the Forest and Gloucestershire, with interest from Chepstow, Ross-on-Wye and Stroud."It was nice to know that I was not alone, that I had someone," said Shannon, who runs the Coleford group with Karen."It just makes so much of a difference. It connects everyone, and the more people we can reach, the better," she added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The NHS must fund services like fracture clinics that can save money and boost productivity: RUTH SUNDERLAND
In her Spending Review, Rachel Reeves announced £29billion for the National Health Service to finance a ten year plan. The plan aims to reduce pressure on hospitals, promote early intervention to slow down or stop people's health problems getting worse, to emphasise prevention and to move the clunky manual admin to digital. Improving the nation's health is a moral imperative in its own right. It is also one of the keys to unlocking the productivity that has eluded the UK since the financial crisis. More than nine million people of working age are economically inactive, around 2.8million of them because they are long-term sick. This is a drain on the welfare budget and a vast waste of potential and talent. Simply throwing money into the ravenous mouth of the NHS will not solve the problem. But there are intelligent, targeted moves health secretary Wes Streeting could make. Chief among these is to honour his promise to provide fracture clinics that would save the NHS a fortune on the costs of osteoporosis and also result in big benefits for employers. Osteoporosis is a very widespread bone condition affecting around 3million Britons. It costs the NHS multiple millions to treat and it costs the economy dearly, because many victims are forced to give up their jobs while others have to give up work to look after a relative with the disease. The good news is that these costs could be dramatically reduced, if Streeting has the good sense to make good on a promise he made to roll out Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) to every NHS Trust in the UK. Campaigners are hoping this will feature in the ten year plan and bring an end to a cruel postcode lottery. Where they exist, FLS clinics offer people over 50 who arrive at A&E with a fracture an assessment for osteoporosis. Patients who are found to have the condition, which means their bones are weak and prone to break, are then offered treatment and advice. It would cost around £30m a year to set up and staff a universal service, plus another £12m annually on the cost of drugs. But over five years this would create savings of £440m for the NHS in terms of the cost of treating fractures, according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS). Ending the FLS postcode lottery would also be a huge benefit to business. Broken bones caused by osteoporosis have cost firms £142m and 1.5million lost work days during Labour's first year in power, independent research for the ROS has found. Musculoskeletal conditions, including osteoporosis, are the single biggest contributor to those lost work days, and the percentage of sickness absence caused has been increasing in recent years. I have personally spoken to some of the people behind the statistics. Stephen Robinson from North Yorkshire had no fewer than ten spinal fractures but because there was no FLS near his home, these were not diagnosed. The final fracture was caused by a sneeze. He had to pay £3,500 for a private diagnosis before he could gain access to treatment and he was forced to give up his job as a forklift truck driver. This experience is, unfortunately not isolated. This is why the Mail has been running a War on Osteoporosis campaign and why we will be watching closely to see if universal FLS is included in the ten year plan. But it is not just osteoporosis. In my own experience physiotherapy services are over-stretched, as is after care for cancer patients and mental health provision. Readers will no doubt be aware of more. The slow pace on helping osteoporosis sufferers is just one example of false economies in the NHS, where patients are denied valuable services that would more than pay for themselves in the name of short-term penny pinching. So come on Wes, show us you care.
Rhyl Journal
23 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
MP claims assisted dying could be ‘trojan horse that breaks the NHS'
It is expected MPs will have a vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday, which could see it either progress to the House of Lords or fall. It will be the first time the Bill has been voted on in its entirety since November's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55. While supporters of the Bill say it is coming back to the Commons with better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it to date, opponents claim the process has been rushed and that the Bill is now weaker than it was when first introduced last year. A key change was the replacing of a High Court judge requirement for sign-off of applications from terminally ill people, with a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and the three-member panel. While the Bill has the backing of some MPs from medical backgrounds, concerns have also been raised by the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists. Disability campaigners have voiced worries about coercion and how vulnerable people could be caught up in any new law, although the proposed legislation is supported by MP and disability rights advocate Marie Tidball as well as former director of public prosecutions Sir Max Hill. On Tuesday, Mr Streeting confirmed no money has yet been allocated for the setting up of an assisted dying service and reiterated the Government is neutral on the Bill. Mr Streeting voted no last year and has since indicated he remains opposed to the Bill. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines. He was asked by Labour MP Katrina Murray, who also voted no in November, whether the NHS has the money to fund assisted dying on top of its other priorities. She said: 'If passed, the assisted dying Bill would make thousands of terminally ill people every year eligible to end their lives on the NHS. 'Does our health service have the money to fund this service as well as its priority of bringing down waiting lists?' Mr Streeting responded: 'Of course, the Government is neutral (on assisted dying). It's for the House to decide. 'There isn't money allocated to set up the service in the Bill at present, but it's for members of this House and the Lords, should the Bill proceed, to decide whether or not to proceed and that's a decision that this Government will respect either way.' Mr Streeting said last year that there were 'choices and trade-offs', adding 'any new service comes at the expense of other competing pressures and priorities'. Dame Siobhain McDonagh, fellow Labour MP who is also opposed to the Bill, claimed an assisted dying service could 'rob our stretched NHS of much needed resources'. She said: 'When asked today in the House of Commons the Secretary of State for Health made clear to MPs that there is no money allocated to the NHS to fund the assisted dying Bill. 'It's now clear that the assisted dying Bill will rob our stretched NHS of much needed resources and could become the trojan horse that breaks the NHS, the proudest institution and the proudest measure in our Labour Party's history. 'We already know from the impact assessment that this new system could cost tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds making our mission to cut waiting times and rebuild our NHS harder. 'I urge Labour MPs not to vote for the assisted dying Bill to protect the vulnerable and our NHS.' An impact assessment published by the Government last month estimated that the establishment of a Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner and the three-member expert panels would cost an average of between £10.9 million and £13.6 million per year, although overall implementation costs of a service were not possible to work out yet. While noting that cutting end-of-life care costs 'is not stated as an objective of the policy', the assessment estimated that such costs could be reduced by as much as an estimated £10 million in the first year and almost £60 million after 10 years. Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater has said the proposed legislation is about giving dying people choice at the end of their lives, saying it is 'about the human cost' and 'not about pounds and pence'. She has described her Bill as the 'most robust piece of legislation in this area in the world'. Dozens of Labour MPs called for Friday's overall vote to be delayed, asking Commons Leader Lucy Powell for more time to scrutinise a Bill they say is 'perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation that has appeared before the House in generations'. But a Government spokesperson pointed out that it is a Private Members' Bill and 'the amount of time for debate is therefore a matter for the House'.
Rhyl Journal
23 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
NHS has ‘culture of cover-up' over failures, Health Secretary says
He told MPs there is 'too much of that happening' in the NHS, and that reputations are protected instead of patients being told the truth. The minister's comments came after Labour MP Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) told him about the experience of a woman in his constituency who suffered from nerve damage after a hip operation, but was told her pain was 'common'. Mr Moon said: 'A couple of weeks ago at my constituency surgery, through the tears, my constituent Amy explained how, following a hip operation in 2008, she suffered progressive nerve damage due to repeated failures in diagnosis, referral and treatment. 'Despite raising concerns for years, she was told her pain was common. 'A nerve test in 2015 confirmed damage and further tests last year showed a significant deterioration. After 17 years, she's only now been offered surgery. 'All Amy wants to know is what steps are being taken to ensure that no other patient is left permanently disabled due to such long and systemic failures.' Responding, Mr Streeting said: 'Can I first of all, on behalf of the NHS, apologise to his constituent. 'That is a totally intolerable situation, but sadly not rare or exceptional. 'There's too much of that happening and a culture of cover-up and covering reputations, rather than being honest with patients about failures. 'We are changing the culture, safety is at the heart of the 10-year plan, and I'd be delighted to talk to him further about his constituent's case.' Elsewhere during health and social care oral questions on Tuesday, the Government was challenged on the difficulties that pharmacies are facing. Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden (South Devon) told MPs the 'current funding model doesn't take into account the lower footfall and the limited referral rates that are common in rural areas'. She said: 'If a pharmacy in a small market town closes, it can cause extreme difficulties for people to access advice and medicines, particularly where there is little or no public transport and they have to go a long way.' Conservative shadow health minister Dr Luke Evans raised the cap on funded consultation appointments that pharmacies can schedule through the Pharmacy First Scheme. He said: 'Once they hit that cap, they are no longer paid the £17 per consultation. 'That, in turn, may mean patients will either be turned away or the pharmacist has to take the hit and has to pay for it themselves.' Care minister Stephen Kinnock replied: 'The pharmacy sector is facing huge challenges after massive cuts over the last 14 years. We're beginning to rebuild, but there are particular challenges for rural pharmacies. 'We are looking at comprehensive reform in the pharmacy sector around better use of technology, hub-and-spoke dispensing and a range of other options which would enable better remote dispensing for rural pharmacies.' He told Dr Evans that the 'record uplift' of £3.1 billion for the pharmacy sector was coming in 'after years of underfunding, incompetence and neglect' from the Conservatives, and that the allocation of funding will be looked at in their reforms.
