Published: 4:18PM Friday November 02, 2012 Source: ONE News

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Up to one in five New Zealanders estimated to suffer from chronic pain will be the big winners of a Medical Council of New Zealand decision to recognise pain medicine as a specialty in its own right, say pain medicine specialists.

The Medical Council has accredited pain medicine as a scope of practice in New Zealand, giving formal recognition to this medical specialty and its associated qualification.

The new scope and qualification come into effect on December 3 this year. The accreditation follows a lengthy application process undertaken by the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

"This keenly awaited decision recognises the importance of pain medicine as a field requiring specialised skills and qualities to address the epidemic of people suffering in pain in our communities," FPM Dean, Associate Professor Brendan Moore, said.

"Pain medicine emphasises a holistic, all-encompassing approach to the management of pain including the physical, psychological and emotional consequences of this common but poorly understood and under-treated medical problem, he said.

This puts the practice of pain medicine in New Zealand on the same footing as in Australia, where it has been recognised as a stand-alone specialist qualification since 2005, Moore said.

There is now a single unified training and accreditation system, and qualification, for recognising pain medicine specialist physicians across Australia and New Zealand, he said.

"Australian and New Zealand specialists with backgrounds in anaesthesia, surgery, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry and general medicine have worked together for 15 years to establish and progress the training, examination and continuing professional development of pain medicine specialists.

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Pain medicine recognition 'great news' for sufferers