Chronic pain care examined by MSPs 29 May 2013 Last updated at 00:16 Improving care for hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from severe pain will be debated in the Scottish Parliament. It is thought more than 700,000 people in Scotland are in chronic pain due to a variety of conditions. Despite previous debates and official reports, most health boards in Scotland still have no dedicated services. Campaigners want Scotland to have its own residential centre for chronic pain, along with better day services. Chronic pain is often attached to other conditions, such as arthritis, cancer, back pain or MS, which means it is often left to those specialist departments rather than having a service dedicated to the pain itself. A small number of people are sent to a specialist centre at Bath in Somerset every year. The debate in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday afternoon is expected to hear the health secretary announce a consultation on new services in Scotland. Back in 2002 when the issue of chronic pain was raised at Holyrood so many people responded with pleas for help that the parliament website almost crashed. Campaigners say that services have improved little since then.