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2021-08-31-accounts

Painkiller Addiction Information Network Trustees Annual Report 01/09/2020 – 31/08/2021

Administrative Details:

Charity: Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN)

Registration Number: 1162961

Registered Address: 55 Sedlescombe Road South, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0TJ

Board of Trustees: Dr Yasir Abbasi, Jason Foster, Albert Kemp, Dr Navjot Ahluwalia

Chief Executive: Cathryn Kemp

Banking: NatWest, Havelock Road, Hastings, TN34 1GW

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Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN) Trustee Report for the year ended 31 August, 2021

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document:

Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN) is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) under charity number 1162961. PAIN’s Constitution was adopted on 29[th] September, 2014.

Organisational Structure:

PAIN’s Board of Trustees is responsible for the management and control of the charity. The trustees work on an entirely voluntary basis, giving their time and skills to the charity for no renumeration except for reimbursement of travel and subsistence incurred through attending charity board meetings. They are assisted by Chief Excecutive Cathryn Kemp who heads the charity providing direction and carrying out tasks assigned by the trustees. The trustees and chief executive meet four times a year.

Recruitment and Appointment of New Trustees:

PAIN’s Constitution outlines the appointment of trustees to the charity. The Board of Trustees is responsible for recruiting and appointing new trustees for a term of two years. The appointment of a new trustee is discussed then voted on by the board, and the duties and responsibilities are outlined to the new trustee, along with copies of the charity constitution, the latest copy of the Trustees Annual report and statement of accounts.

New trustees are selected on the basis of their specific skills in the area of addiction to prescribed painkillers or pain research.

Once new trustees are appointed they are given a copy of the charity’s governing documents and links to roles and responsibilities via the Charities Commission www.gov.uk website.

As PAIN is a small charity, trustees work in their specific fields advancing the aims of the charity, bringing their knowledge together for particular activities or projects run by the charity. Currently PAIN has two trustees from the pain and addiction fields, and one trustee (treasurer) who is a chartered accountant.

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Aims and Objectives

Aims:

PAIN has been formed to advance the awareness of addiction to medicines in the UK and globally, particularly by the dissemination of information, educational events and as an advocacy service to patients with dependency issues, and promote health and wellbeing.

Objectives:

PAIN aims to achieve the following:

  1. Education - To raise awareness among healthcare services and patients about addiction to prescribed and over-the-counter painkillers

  2. Help & Support – To offer advice and resources to those suffering from dependence on opioid painkillers. To support families of those who have been affected by OPD (Opioid Painkiller Dependence). To provide a context for recovery and resources. Telephone helpline for patients who may feel they have a problem.

  3. Identification - To help identify addiction to opioid painkillers by healthcare services and to patients. Identification tools such as screening tools, dedicated publications and information leaflets

  4. Advocacy - To help de-stigmatise the nature of addiction to opioid painkillers through outward-reaching education.

  5. Recovery - To identify recovery pathways and offer information and help to patients to access them.

  6. Connection & Collaboration - To make connections and collaborations with other bodies who are working in pain services and addiction services. To facilitate shared dialogue.

  7. Campaigning - To have a voice in light of national and international discussions about inappropriate prescribing of opioid painkillers. To have a voice in the formulation of treatment pathways and after-care for patients.

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Public Benefit

PAIN brings together agencies from the pain and addiction services with the aim of raising awareness of opioid painkiller dependence (OPD), and in doing so, improving services for the identification and treatment of people who have become addicted to their prescribed painkillers and other medicines, or who have bought them for pain relief.

We believe that OPD is a serious problem in the UK. Public Health England has produced commissioning guidance on this matter, and we believe this is a sign of growing pressure to address the matter by national policy-makers. Estimated prevalence rates suggest a rate of 0.3% equating to approximately 190,000 cases of prescribed OPD in the UK, considerably higher than other European nations. On the basis of these figures (which do not include the whole gamut of addictive medicines such as sleeping tablets, benzodiazepines, gabapentin etc, and do not include prevalence data for over-the-counter medication) the approximate cost to the NHS of patients addicted to prescribed medicine is as high as £3.5 billion.

The benefits of creating a charity that is dedicated to raising awareness of addiction to medicines are many; improving the health and wellbeing of those addicted and their families, improving potential quality of life and better training and ultimately resources for primary and secondary healthcare professionals. Through the dissemination of information, PAIN will provide resources and support for those affected, and their families. It will help patients accessing pain treatment, and GPs and prescribers.

Activities and Achievements

PAIN furthered its charitable purposes for the public benefit in a variety of ways but was impacted by the global pandemic in various ways as conferences and events were cancelled, and moved to online platforms:

  1. Connection and Collaboration: The first PAIN Virtual 15k Run took place at Bewl reservoir, spearheaded by trustee Albert Kemp working with Wadhurst Runners, involving participants across the UK.

  2. Education: Dr Yasir Abbasi and Cathryn Kemp were speakers at healthcare conferences, specialist events, GP training events and pharmaceutical meetings, talking about OPD to commissioners, prescribers and healthcare professionals.

  3. Dissemination of Information, Advocacy and Collaboration and connection: Founding trustee, Dr Yasir Abbasi, spearheaded the iPAM

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conference – the first International Psychiatry and Addiction Masterclass in Dubai, with speakers and attendees from around the globe. Cathryn Kemp was one of the speakers as an expert patient, talking about how we can recognize and prevent Opioid Analgesia Dependence.

  1. Dissemination of Information, Advocacy and Collaboration and connection: Cathryn Kemp spoke at the IOTOD 21 online conference, a two-day event with speakers exploring Improving Outcomes in the Treatment of Opioid Dependence with delegates and speakers from across the world.

  2. Dissemination of Information: PAIN continued to offer its website www.painkillerfree.co.uk which has resources and support for those afflicted, and their families. The website is a key resource for sufferers, with information regarding opioid painkillers and their effects, contact information for further help. Members of the team of trustees have offered ongoing support and advice to patients seeking help.

  3. PAIN continued to support the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Prescribed Drug Dependence, spearheaded by Lord Luke Montague of the Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry, campaigning and lobbying policy makers, MPs, peers and Lords to create specialised services for OPD patients and those addicted to prescribed medication.

  4. Help & Support: PAIN continued to campaign for a national 24-hour helpline for addiction to medicines, to help those suffering, and their families.

  5. Advocacy: PAIN has been a central voice in the nations, regional and international media, speaking about addiction to opioid medicines, sharing the personal journey of addiction to prescribed painkillers, and calling for recognition and awareness of patients who continue to suffer on prescription pain meds.

  6. Connection & Collaboration: PAIN was a founding member of the Opioid Painkiller Dependence Alliance (OPDA) and played a key role in creating the OPD Current Status Report. PAIN has also made important links with the Chronic Pain Coalition (CPC), The Bridge project, South Gloucestershire NHS Trust, Pain Concern, Action on Addiction, Action on Pain, GP training services, and pain consultants and specialists across the country, as well as , though these efforts were limited during the pandemic by lack of face-to-face meetings and events.

  7. Media: Affiliates of PAIN charity have continued to speak via media interviews; broadcast, online, and traditional forms of media. PAIN has written articles and contributed to articles in medical, healthcare and general national media publications

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Financial Review – PAIN Financial Position and Forecast

Painkiller Addiction Information Network Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31[st] August, 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
September 1 [st] , 2020
Opening cash £ 1223.95
Income £ 0
Expenses £0
Total Expenses £0
Closing Cash Balance £1223.95
Balance Sheet
Assets
Cash £ 1223.95
General Reserves
P&L £ 1223.95
----- End of picture text -----

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