Our Pain team supports people living with persistent or chronic pain. We aim to help you by:

• understanding why pain persists and what it means for you
•  working towards doing more of the activities that are important in your life
•  exploring ways of responding to feelings such as sadness, anger, fear or worry related to pain or loss
•  identifying and managing life stressors that can make pain harder to cope with.

Who we are

Our team includes:

• pain specialist physiotherapists
• clinical nurse specialists in pain
• pain consultants.

Together, we work to help you live as effectively as possible with persistent pain.

Accessing the service

You can be referred to us by your GP, consultant or another healthcare professional.
All referrals are reviewed by our senior clinicians based on the information provided.

Our service operates Monday to Friday, 8.00 to 18.00

We’re not a diagnostic service, but we may help facilitate diagnosis for patients already under our care.

Referral criteria

Referrals should include:

• diagnosis and brief pain history
• current medications
• treatments already tried
• results of any relevant tests or investigations
• summary of other medical problems
• psychosocial or psychiatric history (if relevant)
• details of any previous pain clinic involvement

·       the patient’s and referrer’s expectations.

We are unable to accept referrals for:

• patients with severe, unstable psychiatric illness or untreated substance misuse
• requests for single therapies (e.g. acupuncture only)
• children under 17 years old
• patients awaiting surgery or definitive treatment
• housebound patients unable to access remote sessions
• duplicate or out-of-area referrals.

Under 17 years old would need to be referred by the GP to a paediatric department.

What to expect

You’ll be sent a letter with a video link explaining what the Chronic pain service is
This session explains how pain works, what our service offers, and how we can support you.

If you opt in, you’ll be invited to anassessment to discuss how pain affects your life and to agree on a plan together.

Assessment

Your assessment will be a consultant-led appointment, sometimes supported by members of our wider multidisciplinary team.
This takes place in person at Queen’s Hospital and typically lasts around 30 minutes.

During this appointment, the consultant will:

• review your medical history and the details of your pain
• discuss how pain is affecting your daily life
• explore treatment options and next steps with you.

At the end of your assessment, a personalised care plan will be agreed.
This may include:

• further appointments with members of the Pain team
• referral to another service for additional support

·       discharge if no further follow-up is required.

Contact Us

For queries on first appointments, please call 01708 435 000 ext 3603

For secretaries, please call 01708 435 000 ext 3287/3288