HSC’s Pain Management Service supports anyone over the age of 18 who experiences chronic/persistent pain. Pain is defined by the International Association for Study of Pain as:

 “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”.

Furthermore, pain typically needs to have been experienced for at least 3 months before this was be considered chronic/persistent. 

HSC’s Pain Management Service aims to assist individuals to live as well as possible with chronic/persistent pain, with a focus on:

·         Helping people to learn to live with their pain and improve their quality of life as much as possible.

·         A move away from a reliance on passive interventions only, to more active non-medication based strategies.

This will be done by:      

·         Facilitating self-management

·         Multidisciplinary team working

·         Providing outpatient services

·         Providing patient centred-care

·         Underpinning our recommendations with evidence based practice and guidelines

What we offer:

·         Individual interventions including physiotherapy, nursing, and psychological therapy

·         Pain Management Programme (PMP)

·         Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group (ACT)

·         Qutenza Clinic

·         Acupuncture Clinic

How to get referred into the service:

·         If you have been experiencing chronic/ persistent pain and you wish to access the Pain Management Service, your GP will need to make a referral to a Consultant specialising in pain medicine at the MSG. The consultant will assess your referral in order to determine what interventions are likely to be beneficial for you and to rule out any acute health issues or anything of clinical concern.

·         It is important that you are aware that the approach taken within pain management services places an emphasis on improving quality of life, and not necessarily achieving reductions in pain even though this is possible. If you are not open to considering this approach to pain management then it may not be the right time for you to engage with the Pain Management Service.