Below are some of the letters and comments that we have received recently. We appreciate all your letters and comments about your experiences, your opinions and what you think of Airing Pain. You can e-mail us your letters and comments to comment@painconcern.org.uk or use good old pen and paper, sent to:

Pain Concern, 62-66 Newcraighall Road, Fort kinnaird, Edinburgh, EH15 3HS

Here are some comments and letters that have been sent in to us.

 

Posted by Sally  elsewhere on ourwebsite

I think Airing Pain is an excellent programme.  One of the pain clinic doc’s you were interviewing said the sort of person he would not accept onto his programme was one who was coping well with their chronic pain (obviously).  I would like you to interview more of these people who cope well about their various strategies and coping mechanisms.  Many thanks.

 

E-mail From Linda

I listened to programme 11 yesterday – enjoyed it very much. Obviously the presenter got really into his knitting and he sounded relaxed and engaged! I like the inclusive approach of all the programmes and there is always a healthy focus on patients’ accounts of their experiences. I like too that some of the themes of the programmes emerged from questions or answers on message boards, and the presenter is good at emphasising in all the programmes how sufferers can link into the website and communicate with us …..

Repetition is good – with snippets at the beginning of the programmes about what is coming and ending with repeats of what has been said by patients.

I like the fact that the presenter repeats health warnings that people must talk to their doctors … I like the programmes that have focussed on topics, diet, exercise, pacing and activity …. I also loved the programme on ‘getting back to work’ with lots of information from researchers ….

For me the ‘visit’ programmes have been quite different but still enjoyable – giving an insight into the benefits of getting good assessments and treatment from specialists: not available to everyone but they give listeners plenty of ammunition to ask their doctor for more help ….

 

A letter from Margaret

Dear Pain Concern,

Taking advice from your good selves I felt brave/strong enough to ask my GP if I could possibly be referred to a pain clinic. Soon after I recieved a letter from the Western General hospital informing me of their waiting list before eventually receiving my appointment on 19/4/11 instructing me to attend my appointment on 11/4/11. Unfortunately I have no time-machine and so shall find it incredibly difficult to attend.

Also I would like to query why hospitals insist on sending early morning appointments to people that live the farthest away from the city, and hence cover the longest distance travelling.

Have you had a problem like this? Pain Concern would like to know what you think GP’s and other doctors to do to improve when communicating with patients. E-mail us at comment@painconcern.org.uk