CHRONIC PAIN POLICY COALITION REPORT AND 5th VITAL SIGN CAMPAIGN

That this House welcomes the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition report; applauds its efforts in bringing together leading patient groups, major professional organisations, key parliamentarians and large United Kingdom employers to share good ideas and best practice; notes the shocking evidence that 7.8 million people in the UK live with chronic pain; further notes that around half of these also develop depression and go on to lose their jobs; supports the Fifth Vital Sign campaign asking that pain be routinely assessed alongside blood pressure, pulse, respiration and temperature; and urges the Government to consider the Five Point Pain Manifesto as an appropriate, forward-looking and cost-effective approach to dealing with this silent epidemic.