Specialist Interest Module in Pain Medicine
Southmead Hospital offers Stage 3 trainees the opportunity to gain broad and practical experience in Pain Medicine within a multidisciplinary framework. The service provides outpatient assessment for patients 18 years and above and supportive management from interventional procedures, physiotherapy, psychology, other allied health professional input and multidisciplinary team working with other specialties.
Outpatient clinics include:
- General pain clinic – assessment and management of a wide range of chronic pain conditions
- Joint pain–neurosurgical clinic – collaborative care for patients with spinal or joint-related pain
- Physiotherapy-led clinics – functional rehabilitation and activity-based interventions
- Psychology clinics – cognitive and behavioural approaches to pain management
- TENS and Acupuncture clinics – integrative care for select pain syndromes
- Qutenza clinic – capsaicin patch treatment for neuropathic pain
Interventions provided include:
- Image-guided (ultrasound and fluoroscopy) pain procedures such as injections and radiofrequency lesioning
- Neuromodulation treatment including spinal cord stimulators-
The module focuses primarily on non-malignant chronic pain, with cancer-related pain largely managed by palliative care service and collaborative MDT input. Trainees will develop skills in clinical assessment, multidisciplinary team working, procedural techniques, and evidence-based long-term pain management strategies, preparing them for future careers as pain clinicians.
SIA lead