A group of doctors and academics argue that chronic pain should be recognised as a disease in its own right.

The Chronic Pain Policy Coalition argues that by acknowledging that many suffer ongoing problems with pain without a clearly identifiable cause, official strategies and funding could be developed to help those in physiotherapy jobs effectively treat patients.

According to figures provided by the BBC, nearly 8 million people in the UK suffer from ongoing problems with pain; it is the second most common reason cited by those claiming incapacity benefits. However, only 2% of these millions of people eventually see specialists in physiotherapy or occupational therapy jobs.

Research into this problem has revealed that nearly a quarter of those suffering from pain do not believe that their doctor will know how to treat their pain.

Dr Beverly Collett, chairman of the coalition and a consultant in pain medicine at University Hospital Leicester, said that the problem had "huge ramifications for society as a whole.''

"Pain is difficult to treat," she said. "Many patients are seeking reasons for what is behind the pain - but in the vast majority of cases you can't find one."

Currently, the non-medical interventions of physiotherapy and exercise programmes are the only treatments available for many of those suffering from such problems. Researchers are currently examining the theory that pain is maintained in sufferers by changes in the spinal cord or the brain, even once the initial reason for pain has been healed.

Irene Tracey, Nuffield professor of anaesthetic science at Oxford University, is also a member of the coalition. She said that it was "not acceptable for people to suffer significant pain in the 21st century."