Our pain service covers two main areas:
Acute pain (inpatients)
This is pain that has come on recently. It is severe, but it does not usually last a long time. If you have acute pain, we will need to look after you in hospital. This might be to help ease pain after a big operation. Or it might be to help with a different problem that is causing them to have severe pain.
How will you control my acute pain?
If you are in hospital with acute pain, we can control your pain in a number of ways.
This is an injection in your back to stop you feeling pain in parts of your body. It is common pain relief in childbirth and in some types of surgery. To find out more visit: Epidural - NHS
This is a machine that helps you to control your pain. It connects through a small plastic tube into your vein. The machine has a strong pain killer in it. You can press a button to release it into your body.
This is when we use local anaesthetic to numb the nerves in a certain part of the body. We call this a 'nerve block'. It might be a 'one off' injection that we give. Or we might put a small plastic tube in your vein so we can continue the pain relief. To find out more visit: Local anaesthesia - NHS
If you are in hospital with acute pain, the staff looking after you will manage this. We want to make sure you are comfortable and your pain is under control.
If our ward staff need specialist help or advice, they can contact our acute pain team. This includes Consultant Anaesthetists and Clinical Nurse Specialists. They are experts in pain relief. Other staff can contact them 24/7 if they need to for any urgent issues.
Chronic or persistent pain (outpatients)
If you are living with chronic pain, we will see you as an outpatient. There can be a big impact on all aspects of your life if you have chronic pain. We will help you learn how to live with and manage your pain. This is through our specialist pain clinics. Our pain management service is one of the biggest in the North of England.
To access the chronic pain service, you will need to go through your GP first. They will refer you to us for tests. We will help find out what is wrong and why you have chronic pain. We will need to understand:
- How long you have had pain for?
- What tests you have had already?
- What pain relief you take?
- Whether you know what the cause of your pain is?
- If you have any other health issues or concerns?
Once we have a better idea about your pain, we can help you manage it. We might change what pain relief you take, or offer injections to ease your pain.
There are other ways we can help too.
We provide physio sessions to help you manage and support your pain. We also offer therapy sessions. This could be on your own, or with others who suffer similar pain to you.
It may be that you need a combination of these things. We will work out the right plan for you.
You will meet lots of experts who all work together to help you. This includes:
- Consultants
- Nurse Specialists
- Pharmacists
- Physios
- Psychologists
Together, we will review your symptoms and agree a plan to look after you. As part of your ongoing care, we will monitor you. We may see you in person at a clinic or via a telephone or video appointment.
Where will my treatment take place?
We run outpatient clinics from lots of Trust locations (click here). Your appointment letter will let you know which location to go to.
Where can I find out more?
- Leaflet - Going home with Opioid Pain Medication
- Leaflet - How to take your medicines at home
- Leaflet - Supporting reducing Opioids in Chronic Persistent Pain
- Leaflet - The Transitional Pain Clinic
Our senior team in Pain Management
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Clinical Director - James Tulloch
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Divisional Director - Caroline McGrath
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Directorate Manager - Gillian Rowe
