COVID-19 Resilience in the Third Sector

Chronic pain is a major clinical challenge in Scotland and across Europe as a whole. 18% of the UK population are currently affected by severe chronic pain. This has resulted in a significant impact on people’s quality of life and affects their family, relationships and carers. This article discusses how a third sector organisation – Pain Association Scotland (PAS) – has completely changed their approach to service delivery after 33 years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as how they have worked with Health Boards in order to ensure a continued service which is equitable, trusted and provides continuity of service. The discussions are from the perspective of the Director, Sonia Cottom, BA (Hons) who has been with the Association for 10 years and who is ultimately responsible for the operations, strategic planning and service improvement and implementation. She is also advisor to the Scottish Government on chronic pain policy, providing the evidence to underpin future strategic decision making.