Pain 039 The Chronic Pain Management Service v5
The Chronic Pain Management Service
Patient Information
The Patient Information Leaflets page on the Trust website is available on the link: https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/patient-information-leaflets or scan the QR code.
- Author ID: SD
- Leaflet ref: Pain 039
- Version: 5
- Leaflet title: The Chronic Pain Management Service
- Last review: July 2022
- Expiry date: July 2024
Chronic Pain Management Service
Welcome to the chronic pain service at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. This service is provided in partnership with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).
You have been referred to the chronic pain management service by a health professional who feels we may be able to help you with your chronic pain. This short leaflet gives a brief outline of what you can expect, who we are and what we can offer.
Who are we?
The team consists of chronic pain consultants who are primarily anaesthetists who specialise in chronic pain, clinical nurse specialists, chronic pain physiotherapists and technical instructors, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and anaesthetic secretaries.
Chronic Pain Management Team Service Values
As a team we will respect your values and beliefs and will provide a holistic approach to your care. We aim to offer the highest standard of care within a safe environment and to meet your physical, psychological, and social needs.
Our aim is to help you to cope as effectively as possible within the limitations of your pain and to support you to make informed choices about your care to maximise your level of well-being.
What the service offers
Services we offer will vary from person to person and there is not one treatment option that suits everyone. Our aim is to help you manage your pain and try and reduce the impact it has on your life. The options below are aimed to help manage your pain but not fix it.
We could offer any of the options below:
- Time, expert advice, support, guidance, and reassurance.
- Medicines review that will be aimed at helping you to get the most benefit from your medication and to reduce the risks.
- Physiotherapy aimed at promoting self-management and improve physical fitness with exercise
- Occupational therapy that helps with pacing, activities of daily living and relaxation.
- Clinical psychology which helps to explore and manage the impact and role of pain on everyday coping and emotional well-being.
- Injections, if needed to help you complete the exercise component of your plan. Injections are not ideally suited for long term management of your pain.
- Acupuncture.
Your referral
Once you have been referred, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. This will be used by the team to decide which clinic will be best suited to you. It is essential that you complete this questionnaire as your appointment will only be sent out to you when we have received this. If you cannot fill this in for any reason, please let your GP know.
Clinic types
Currently we offer three different types of clinics:
- Nurse and physiotherapy clinic
- Consultant only clinic
- Consultant and clinical psychologist clinic.
Each clinic is tailored to suit you as an individual and we decide on the best option for you, based on your answers in the questionnaire.
Where is the Chronic Pain Management Service provided?
The chronic pain services are based throughout the Wigan Borough.
We will always try to make your initial appointment geographically close to your home, but we cannot always guarantee this with future appointments as we will send you to the clinic most appropriate to your specific needs.
Most injections and some procedures are performed at Leigh Hospital, and this cannot be changed.
What you can expect
In your consultation the clinician will ask you questions about your pain and take a history so that we can piece together a picture of how the pain affects you as a person.
The sessions vary in time depending on the individual and the clinic you are allocated to.
Every individual’s care will be different, but you will be given a similar message that within chronic pain it is very rare to cure pain and our roles within the team are to help you manage your pain and reduce the impact it has on your life.
Although this can be upsetting to think about, we feel it is useful to understand this at the very beginning of your journey with us as this will help you in the future.
How long will I wait for my appointment?
This can vary depending on what your needs are and unfortunately, we cannot give you an exact length of time you will wait, however you are always welcome to contact us.
Appointments Centre: 0300 555 4567
It is very important that you attend any appointments made for you with either, the Doctor; Nurse; Physiotherapist; Occupational therapist or the Psychologist. If you cannot attend, please cancel the appointment, and re-arrange, failure to cancel will result in discharge from the pain service and you will need to be re referred by your GP if you wish to be seen again.
Failure to attend appointments in any part of the service will result in discharge from the overall team.
Further information
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng59
References
Fayaz et al (2016) BMJ open 2016:6
Prevalence of chronic pain in the UK ; A systematic review and meta analysis of population studies.