Pain Management

The Pain Medicine Unit at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust provides a comprehensive pain management service for adults with acute and chronic (persistent) pain. We are a multi-disciplinary team consisting of specialist doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and psychologists. We provide inpatient acute pain service as well as the outpatient chronic pain management and have recently helped establish the Community Integrated Pain Assessment and Spinal Service (IPASS).

We treat a wide range of chronic pain conditions affecting all areas of the body, e.g. neuropathic (or nerve) pain, chronic regional pain syndrome, back pain, scar pain, phantom pain and complex abdominal and pelvic pain, facial pain, headache, post shingles pain and post-surgical nerve damage pain and fibromyalgia.

The team offers advice, evidence based pain treatment and support to patients referred for specialist pain treatment from all specialities. Pain management services include:

• Medication review and need for stronger medication including morphine group of drugs
• Acupuncture,
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS),
• Intervention treatments, including epidurals, nerve blocks, facet joint injections and radiofrequency pain treatments

Alongside this we offer specialist physiotherapy and psychology support, both on a one-to-one basis, and also through our outpatient pain management group programme.  In addition there is a Mindfulness group programme for living with pain.

We also see certain patients with more complex psychological issues as part of a multidisciplinary assessment with the psychologist and physiotherapist.

Outpatient clinics

The chronic pain service is able to offer clinic appointments at:

The Royal Berkshire Hospital – Tuesdays and Thursdays all day

Townlands Memorial Hospital – Wednesday AM

West Berkshire Community Hospital, Thatcham - Friday once a month

The Bracknell Healthspace – Wednesdays and Thursdays once a month

Day case treatments requiring x-ray guidance will be offered at The Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading.

How to find us

Park in the main multi-storey car park and exit on level 2. Follow the signs labelled 'all wards and departments' and turn left once you reach the Welcome Desk. Continue along the corridor to South Block, and take a left after the League of Friend's Tea Bar. The Pain Clinic is on your left before the endoscopy entrance.

Staff details

Consultants:  Deepak Ravindran, Ivan Ramos-Galvez, Husham Alshather

Psychologists: Sarah Lack, Sharon Pocock and Ranjeeta Khalsa

Physiotherapist: Renato Silva

Matron: Shirley McGrath

Acute Pain Nurses: Elaine Blay, Kayleigh Sloman, Nurgul Gurleyen, Paula Nash

Pain Healthcare Assistant: Amber Higgs

Outpatients Sister: Carmel Russell

Secretary: Amanda Large

Waiting list officer: Yuan Tao

Reception: Diane Flynn

Other information

Mobile phones allowed: No

Wheelchair access: Yes

At their first consultation, all patients are seen by a pain specialist. Patients should bring with them their list of medication. If further treatments are decided at this consultation, patients will be given the appropriate information leaflets about what they may need to bring on a future occasion.  

Nearby facilities

Refreshment points

• Convenience store
• Coffee bar
• Restaurant on level 1
• League of Friends shop and tea bar

 ATM machine

• Opposite the reception desk on level 2 in the Main Entrance Block and In south block opposite League of Friends

Related sites

Patient information leaflets

Links

http://www.britishpainsociety.org/ British Pain society. This website provides valuable information for patients with pain conditions, and details of various support groups, including guidance.

http://www.iasp-pain.org/ IASP

http://www.action-on-pain.co.uk/  Action on pain

http://www.backcare.org.uk/ Back care

http://www.fibromyalgia-associationuk.org/ Fibromyalgia UK

http://www.bodyinmind.org/ Latest advances in Neuroscience

http://painconcern.org.uk/ Pain concern website. It provides support for those with pain and their carers, and has factsheets and leaflets on different aspects of chronic pain and self-management.  It also contains Airing Pain, a series of regular podcasts on living with pain, which can be downloaded for free.

http://www.aci.health.nsw.gov.au/chronic-pain This is a valuable and recent resource sponsored by the New South Wales Government of Australia for their population. However the videos and content are quite easily generalizable for most populations.