Pain Management

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Pain Management

The Pain Management Service is a busy, dynamic service involving professionals from various disciplines working together to provide management of acute and chronic pain and pain in patients with cancer.

Our aim is that all patients will have access to appropriate pain management strategies to enable them to achieve their optimal quality of life.

For more information about disabled access for this service, please click here.

Services

We have an integrated acute and chronic Pain Management Service.

We aim to provide patients with an appropriate, tailored care plan to manage their pain and optimise their quality of life.

Services include:

Daily acute pain ward round at Sandwell and City site
10 multi-disciplinary pain clinics per week at City Hospital
One multi-disciplinary pain clinic in primary care
Three nurse-led pain clinics in primary care
10 Day case procedure lists per week
One nurse-led lidocaine infusion list per week
Four sessions of acupuncture per week
Two Pain Self-Management Programmes
One Primary Care Pain Management Programme
Fortnightly Activity group after completing a Self-Management Programme
Monthly Support group after completing a Self-Management Programme
1:1 psychology
Specialist physiotherapy

Acute Pain Service
This service was set up in 1991 and was the first of its kind in the West Midlands. It is designed to optimise pain control for inpatients. The service includes:

Daily ward rounds by a dedicated team of nurses
Support in the care of patients with acute and chronic pain
Support in the use of analgesic pumps
Pain management techniques for patients with recurring chronic pain conditions that flare up

Chronic Pain Service
Chronic pain can often be a complex problem that has existed for many months or years. The aim of the chronic pain service is to assists people in managing their pain to help them improve their quality of life, as it is not always possible to cure chronic pain.

Outpatient clinics
Patients are referred to the outpatients clinic from their GP or consultants in other specialties. A new referral to the chronic pain service may be seen by a number of different specialists, including:

Nurse specialists who will ask the patient specific questions about the nature of their pain and advise them of potential treatment options.
A psychologist who will discuss with the patient how pain is affecting on their day-to-day life and offer advice and strategies on how to cope with pain
A physiotherapist who will assess the patient’s mobility and strength, and offer advice on stretches, exercises and activities.
A consultant in pain management who will assess the patient’s medication and give advice on analgesics and other treatment, such as nerve blocks.

All of the health professionals involved have a special interest in pain management and work together to provide a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan based on the difficulties that individual patients face.

Diagnostic tests such as X-rays, MRIs and blood tests are not routinely performed as these are usually done prior to your referral and attendance at clinic.

Pain Self-Management Programme
Some patients may benefit from participating in a pain self-management programme. These programmes give individuals the information and strategies to enable them to manage their own pain more effectively and therefore lead more active and fulfilling lives and maintain their independence, despite the pain. Each patient commits to a 10-week course of weekly sessions lasting two and a half hours each. Topics covered in the programme include:

Why acute and chronic pain are different and why they need managing differently?
Medicines and their use in chronic pain
Relaxation techniques and stress management
Pacing and goal setting
Approaches to activity – including fears about activity and enabling you to feel confident to resume some hobbies you previously enjoyed
Managing flare ups and setback
Thoughts and feeling and how they affect pain

Pain Procedures
Some patients with chronic pain conditions will be suitable for medical interventions that are aimed at reducing the pain signals travelling through certain nerves within the body. This may be:

Injection to the site of your pain with local anesthetic and steroid being injected to bathe the nerve, which calms the pain.
Lidocaine +/- Magnesium infusion to help reduce widespread body pain
Qutenza patch applied to a specific area to help treat and reduce nerve pain.

These interventions take place in the Birmingham Treatment Centre at City Hospital and are day case procedures only.

Community pain management services
Community outpatient clinics are also held weekly at the Lyng Centre for Health in West Bromwich and at the Birmingham Treatment Centre.