HUNDREDS of thousands of Scots suffer from chronic pain and there is a system in place that is supposed to help them. Whatever their condition, patients should expect to receive their first treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by a doctor. They should then receive the regular treatment they need when they need it to keep their pain under control. That is what is supposed to happen.

However, an investigation by The Herald has revealed the system is failing. The figures show that from July 1 to September 30 last year, only 1,610 out of 10,114 new referrals started treatment within the 18-week limit – that is 15.9 per cent. To make matters worse, patients returning for repeat treatment are not appearing in the official figures and are sometimes having to wait for many months, and in some cases over a year, without the pain control they need.

READ MORE: Revealed: Hidden scandal of chronic pain wait times

What this means for the patients themselves is troubling. The mother of two, for example, who suffers chronic pain in her neck, arm and spine and has had to wait over 14 months for treatment that should be delivered three times a year. Or the 46-year-old woman who is in a wheelchair and housebound. She also has had to wait 14 months for her treatment. Then there is the case of the mother of three who faces up to nine months in extreme pain because she is not receiving the injections she needs when she needs them. It is this day-to-day suffering and discomfort that is the reality of the delays in treatment.

The explanation centres on some long-term, systemic issues with the NHS in Scotland, including the waiting times themselves. The health service needs ways to measure how it is performing, but waiting times can affect the way staff behave. The figures also do not necessarily reflect what is really happening on the ground, with the waiting times on chronic pain being a perfect example. The official statistics on patients with pain are poor enough, but by not counting patients returning for regular treatment, thousands are being left out of the picture, meaning the real situation is even worse. Figures on how long patients are waiting can provide a snapshot of how the service is working, but if they are to be of any real use, they have to reflect what is truly going on.

Honesty is also needed on what is actually causing the delays in treatment: a lack of staff and underfunding. The Government will often say the NHS has more doctors and nurses than ever before, but that doesn’t count for much if there is still a shortage.

The other problem is demand is increasing and the NHS is not keeping pace. The Government has set up a steering group with the aim of improving pain services, but the cause is always likely to return to the same problem: the services do not have the money they need.

As for an official plan, Paul Gray, the chief executive of the Scottish NHS, has said the service will be in better shape by 2020, but that can only be achieved if problems that have been largely hidden from sight, such as the state of services for chronic pain, are exposed to the light. The Scottish Government needs to be honest about the state of the NHS and then, and only then, can it come up with a clear, detailed and honest plan to fix it.