General secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE calls for support and participation in the national partnership organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1926 general strike
Painful instructions
Chronic-pain patients are worried about new guidelines that are re-categorising their conditions and potentially limiting their access to vital treatments, reports RUTH HUNT

FOR those who suffer from untreated chronic pain it can make every minute and every hour a herculean task to get through. It can trap them inside, isolated and often in bed.
So, when effective pain relief is found, which enables the person to break free from the bedroom-cell, it’s not surprising the thought of it being removed causes anguish.
That explains why there is so much consternation about the recent intervention by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) regarding how the NHS should treat chronic pain, in particular pain that has an unclear cause.
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