Many elderly people living with chronic pain in nursing homes are suffering needlessly, according to a new survey.
A poll of 77 people for the Patients Association found 74% had been experiencing pain for over a year.
Of those suffering, 57% had never been asked about their pain by nursing home staff and 85% had never had a doctor or nurse talk to them about how often it could be treated. Nearly two in five residents said they had experienced constant pain and 8% described it as "excruciating".
Poor pain management limited the activities of 90% of those questioned and left 38% feeling depressed and miserable. Pain also led to disturbed sleep and, in a few cases, residents had suicidal thoughts.
Discussions about pain management were often between a GP and nursing home staff and rarely involved the patient, the survey found. Last year, a Patients Association survey found that 39% of non-professional carers said health workers "never or only occasionally" reviewed their patient's pain level.
Spokeswoman Katherine Murphy said: "With more than half a million aged 65 or over now living in nursing homes, the results of the research are disgraceful. It is outrageous that so many residents are left in chronic pain unnecessarily. It is unacceptable for healthcare and nursing staff not to be actively relieving chronic pain.
"There is a desperate need for a more proactive approach to the management and treatment of pain by healthcare and nursing home staff."
Deborah Klee, policy manager at Help the Aged, said: "This is another example of the inherent discrimination that older care home residents are subjected to by our NHS. It is the responsibility of local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and GPs to ensure that older care home residents have access to specialist medical supervision, especially for long term conditions such as arthritis.
"Instead, older people end up 'cut off' from their GP of choice once they enter a care home and not given the same medical priority as people living in their own home."