I'll have to take your word that the guidelines say effectively to give the patient what they want, it seems a strange idea.
Here, in Norway, the doctor also tells the patient to take as much as they need but the decision on the actual type of pain relief is arrived at collaboratively between the patient and the doctor, sometimes including a short stay, two or three nights, in hospital so that multiple regimes can be quickly tried out under supervision.
In some cases they can prescribe more suitable drugs and more suitable delivery methods.
For instance the pain associated with cancer is often better controlled with a Fentanyl continuous delivery patch than an Oxy capsule. Oxy is good for relatively quick relief when you have a temporary increase in pain but the effect wears off so you get uneven pain relief.
I'm not a doctor, just speaking from personal knowledge of someone very close to me.
Here, in Norway, the doctor also tells the patient to take as much as they need but the decision on the actual type of pain relief is arrived at collaboratively between the patient and the doctor, sometimes including a short stay, two or three nights, in hospital so that multiple regimes can be quickly tried out under supervision.
In some cases they can prescribe more suitable drugs and more suitable delivery methods.
For instance the pain associated with cancer is often better controlled with a Fentanyl continuous delivery patch than an Oxy capsule. Oxy is good for relatively quick relief when you have a temporary increase in pain but the effect wears off so you get uneven pain relief.
I'm not a doctor, just speaking from personal knowledge of someone very close to me.