§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department guarantees that the quality 267W of local pain management services provided by NHS trusts and primary care trust commissioners is effectively monitored by strategic health authorities; and what steps it takes to ensure that best practice in pain management is shared between NHS trusts and primary care trusts from different strategic health authority regions. [165349]
§ Mr. HuttonThe process for commissioning health services involves the establishment of service level agreements between primary care trust commissioners and providers for various specialties. These set the framework for the monitoring of all services, including pain. Strategic health authorities would not normally become involved in this process except in cases of serious difficulty.
The commissioning process ensures that quality services are provided and it is for providers to ensure that they take account of developments in pain services, such as the recommendations in the Clinical Standards Advisory Group report on pain or the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Pain Society booklet, "Pain Management Services—Good Practice".