Pain Management Group

What is the Pain Management Group?

The purpose of this clinic is to focus on your pain and how it affects you and people important to you. We can then discuss treatment options.

Some of the treatments are based on self-help and self- management, whilst others are administered by a doctor or therapist.

This may include:

A change in medication
A programme of exercises or other non-drug treatments
A programme of talking therapies
One or more procedures, known as a nerve blocks carried out by an anaesthetist in CUH or at Ely
Referral into another part of the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity service
Referral onto another appropriate service

Assessment

The palliative care doctor, pain anaesthetist and psychologist will review you in person when they attend either at the Hospice (in the Bradbury Wellness Centre) or via a video consultation (we may ask you to attend at the Hospice if you are unable to use a video link or if you need to be examined by a doctor).

FAQ's

How many patients visit the clinic?

45 people were seen at our Pain Management clinics between April 2021 and March 2022.

Am I eligible to receive services and how can I be referred?  

This out-patient clinic is available for patients who have difficult to control pain caused by a palliative condition such as, but not exclusive to, cancer.

Patients are referred into the pain management group who are already under the care of the Hospice services. If you are new to the Hospice and your doctor (GP or hospital doctor) is not sure if this clinic will be helpful for you, they should call one of the consultants to discuss this further.

If you eligible for the clinic you would then see a doctor or specialist nurses for an initial assessment prior to attending. How and when to seek a referral.

What will happen before my appointment?

You will receive an appointment by telephone or, if there is time, by post.

You may be asked to fill in a symptom questionnaire prior to attending.

If you having a video consultation, you will be asked to consent to sharing your email address to be sent the link to your video consultation. We use a secure App called ‘Starleaf’ which has been designed by Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) for patient appointments.

How long does the appointment last?

Patients must in general be well enough to attend clinic for up to an hour.

Are my family able to join my appointment?

Family are welcome to attend virtually or in person.

What should I do if I can’t make my appointment?

If you cannot make your appointment then please telephone the community team office on 01223 675839.

Are your services really free of charge?

Thanks to the dedication, commitment and generosity of the local community and the hard work of our senior leadership team to secure vital contracts with the NHS, all our services are free of charge.     

It will cost £11.51 million this financial year to operate our services. Contracted services from the NHS are budgeted at £7.07 million, meaning that £4.44 million needs to be raised through donations, fundraising activities and trading. 

We are extremely grateful to our local community for the continual dedication, commitment and generosity they show in supporting us to meet this target.