Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Papers

Multidisciplinary rehabilitation for chronic low back pain: systematic review

BMJ 2001; 322 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.322.7301.1511 (Published 23 June 2001) Cite this as: BMJ 2001;322:1511

Rapid Response:

Back to Front

As a consultant anaesthetist involved in an integrated back pain
service that struggles for existence in a District General Hospital, I
read this with interest. Sadly this paper indicates that we may have got
it all wrong. How I wish that I had even 10% of >100 hours of clinical
resources to apply to a patient!

If Health services where realistic, planned and equitable they would
be using such resources to either prevent back pain or at a minimum, treat
it aggressively at its outset. Sadly there seems to be no political will
in the UK to do this.

Until we get the front end of back pain we will continue to get it
back to front.

(No conflicts of interest)

Competing interests: No competing interests

24 June 2001
William Notcutt
Consultant Anaesthetist, Pain Management
James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth