CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the return of routine NHS back-pain injections in York have vowed to continue their fight for the return of the treatment.

One year since NHS North Yorkshire and York (NHSNYY) said it was dropping the injections for chronic back pain sufferers, the York Pain Management Support Group said it had 130 members whose lives were being seriously restricted by back pain – with some unable to work.

Chairman Gordon Hart said: “We will not give up until a satisfactory pain relief programme is put in place. We have lobbied our three local MPs, we have contacted the Secretary of State for Health and had questions asked in the House of Commons, and nothing seems to produce the answer we are looking for. We are actively planning a trip to Westminster to present our petition directly to the Minister to see if this will produce action on our behalf.”

NHSNYY chose not to routinely fund spinal injections for back pain in November last year, saying it must focus on buying services giving the best possible clinical outcomes to ensure value for money.

Throughout the row it has insisted the procedures are not being stopped and said clinicians who feel a patient would benefit from the treatment are able to ask the Funding Request Panel to consider individual cases. The Pain Management Group also said it sent a letter to the trust two weeks ago suggesting an alternative protocol for identifying those who would benefit from the injections.

This would include patients being assessed by a GP then given one of the injections and monitoring the benefits.

However, the group said it had not yet received an answer from the trust.

A spokesperson for NHS North Yorkshire and York, said: “We remain fully confident that the package of therapies we are commissioning instead of injections represents the best treatment for patients.

“This view is supported by clinicians across North Yorkshire.”