Eventually the disease will stop hurting. The Ministry of Health wants to impose on doctors at all levels and institutions the obligation to determine the intensity of pain, treat it and monitor the effectiveness of actions taken.
According to Jarosław Woroń from the Polish Society of Pain Treatment, 20 percent. adult Poles get up in the morning with pain and go to sleep with it, and more than 80 percent. cancer patients suffer from pain that is not always adequately relieved.
The Ministry of Health has prepared a draft regulation defining organizational standards of care in the field of pain diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, regardless of its cause. The regulation will guarantee the effective implementation of the right to pain treatment – in accordance with the current medical knowledge – to all patients, regardless of the source of the pain, the patient’s age and the place of his stay.
Pain can be treated in primary health care, outpatient specialist care, hospital treatment and emergency treatment. The tool is to be, among others Pain Assessment Card. According to the deputy minister, it will be very easy to use. The card is to contain, among others survey questions that doctors should ask the patient about pain sensation. It is supposed to help determine the places of ailments and their severity.
Szymon Chrostowski, the president of the Coalition for Fighting Pain, said that a breakthrough is being made in the field of pain treatment. – Amendment of the Act on Patient Rights and the Patient’s Rights Ombudsman, where it was possible to derive the wording that only the terminal patient has the right to treat pain, and introduce a provision that says that every entity that provides treatment services is obliged to treat pain, created a certain type of environment for the pain reliever patient to be fully equipped and cared for, he assessed.
In his opinion, the regulation is another tool that will provide doctors with a guide to help them locate and diagnose pain, assess its intensity and what medications to administer.
Jarosław Woroń from the Polish Pain Treatment Society assessed that the fact that pain is not treated optimally in Poland has been known for years, but he pointed out that in the last two years a lot has changed for the better in this area.
The expert argued that improperly treated pain generates huge indirect costs, resulting, inter alia, from from prolonged hospital stay or complications. He added that people who want to relieve pain often prescribe medications themselves, and the so-called self-medication can generate further problems and expenses. – Let me remind you that 20 percent. adult Polish society gets up in the morning with pain and goes to sleep with it, and over 80 percent. cancer patients suffer from pain that is not always adequately relieved, said Woroń.
Jerzy Gryglewicz from the Experts for Health Foundation said that patients often come across the phrase that the disease must hurt. In his opinion, the regulation will help to eliminate such thinking.