Pain management
Contact
- Outpatients appointments
- 020 3313 5000
Visitor Information
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Our pain medicine service provides integrative pain medicine, combining cutting edge treatment with traditional proven methods to manage pain and suffering both on the wards and in the pain management centre.
We are highly skilled at managing a large spectrum of painful conditions, but specifically have a great deal of experience with spinal injections and other interventional techniques guided by x-rays or ultrasound and treat a large number of patients with back, neck and musculoskeletal pain every month in our dedicated suite.
We believe in treating the whole patient, not just symptoms and share our medical knowledge with our patients to help them understand their condition and provide the tools and resources to manage it.
We use a variety of treatment methods as per national guidelines to reduce or eliminate problems and to decrease the possibility of pain recurrence. Through focused care and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment our pain medicine team aim to improve the quality of the lives of as many patients and their families as we can.
Conditions and treatments
We manage acute, chronic and cancer pain such as:
- Back pain
- Neck pain
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Joint pain
- Neuropathic (nerve) pain
- Post-herpetic neuralgia (shingles)
- Post-surgical pain (scar pain)
- Phantom limb pain
- Fibromyalgia/Chronic widespread pain syndrome
- Medication-resistant pain
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Complex multidimensional pain disorders
We use a range of treatments resulting from a multidisciplinary assessment including:
- Interventional spinal procedures including sacroiliacs, x-ray-guided thermal and pulsed radiofrequency treatment
- Ultrasound-guided injections
- CT-guided radiofrequency treatment
- Qutenza therapy
- Physiotherapy/psychology pain management programme
- Medications
- Opioid management clinic
- TENS
- Peripheral electrical nerve stimulation
- Clinical research-based treatments
We are not a diagnostic service, but will occasionally request specific tests and investigations if clinically indicated.
Our service has a strong interest in clinical research in the field of pain management and draw on this experience to the benefit of our patients. We are actively engaged with the latest clinical research and recruit certain patients for any relevant trials that are ongoing where possible.
Clinics
Pain management centre
The pain management centre is located at Charing Cross Hospital on the second floor of the main tower block.
Address
Pain management centre
Second floor
Charing Cross Hospital
Fulham Palace Road
London W6 8RF
Hours
09.00 to 17.00, Monday through Friday
Contact information
Phone: 020 3311 7134 / 7016
Outpatients
Phone: 020 3313 5000
Email: appointments@imperial.nhs.uk
Meet the team
Consultants
Dr Stephen Humble
Dr Christopher Jenner
Dr Arun Bhaskar
Dr Suneet Nayee
Anaesthesia and acute pain consultants
Dr Ashwin Kalbag
Dr Nikki Stranix
Dr Marta Prestedge
Lead extended scope physiotherapist for pain
Mrs Helen Dawson
Specialist in Chinese acupuncture
Yonghzi Li
Clinical psychologists
Dr Michelle Lipton
Dr Vicky McKechnie
Nurse consultant
Dr Gillian Chumbley
Clinic staff nurse
Jendra Aguas
Administrative team
Kirsten Begbie
Rosalinda Allwan
Daniel Lamptey
Lead clinical nurse specialists in pain
Nicola Bourne
Pauline Chinn
Patient information
Before your appointment
If you are unsure whether you are coming for a clinic appointment or an injection please contact the clinic reception before to clarify.
You are welcome to bring a relative, close friend or carer with you to your appointment. If you are coming for a procedure (e.g. an injection), you must be accompanied by a responsible adult to make sure you reach home safely afterwards.
Please wear clean clothes that will remove easily if you require physical examination or are attending for a procedure such as a spinal injection. If you have been sent questionnaires/forms to fill out prior to the consultation please complete this before your appointment as it will make sure our clinical care can be as effective as possible.
If you are taking medications to prevent the blood clotting such as Warfarin or Clopidogrel please make the clinical team aware of this. National guidelines recommend withholding Warfarin for five days and Clopidogrel for seven days before an injection. Both these types of tablets may be restarted the day after the procedure.
Please bring with you:
- a list of all of the tablets that you are taking
- your full address and telephone number(s)
- your appointment card and appointment letter
- your GP’s name and address
- money to pay for any prescriptions, or an exemption card
- a list of questions you may want to ask your consultant
- any scans/images/computer discs/records from any tests or investigations that have been performed at other hospitals that you would like the doctor to review
- anything else specified in your appointment letter
During your appointment
When you arrive please go to level two, south wing at Charing Cross Hospital.
Please arrive on time or slightly early for your appointment to avoid delaying the patients who are due to arrive after you. Unfortunately some appointments and procedures can take significantly longer than predicted and this can cause delays of 30 minutes or longer on some occasions, we do apologise if this happens and will keep you updated.
Please note that we are a teaching hospital, so medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.
An outpatient clinic consultation may take between 15 and 60 minutes. Procedures can take up to three hours in total including preparation, the procedure itself and resting in the recovery room.
When you come to the pain management centre at Charing Cross Hospital you will be assessed by either a doctor, physiotherapist, psychologist or nurse. During the assessment, the clinician will ask you many questions about your pain and how it affects you. They may also want to examine you. At the end of the consultation there will be time to explain and to discuss any pain management plans.
It is common for patients to receive a physical examination during their appointments. All our staff are respectful of patients' dignity. If you are concerned about having a routine physical examination or specifically require a chaperone please make this clear prior to your appointment. Our staff consist of male and female clinicians and we cannot guarantee that you will be seen by a clinician of a particular gender for logistical reasons.
After your appointment
Follow on management techniques may include medications, physiotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (electric currents applied through the skin to stimulate nerves), acupuncture or injections. Patients may also be referred for consideration of suitability for a place on our pain management programme.
Patient information leaflets
- What symptoms to look out for after having an epidural for pain relief
- Qutenza 2020
- Pain injections 2020
Leaflets
Refer to this service
Please use NHS e-Referrals to refer a patient to our pain management service.
When referring to the pain clinic at Charing Cross Hospital please fill in the referral form and provide all relevant information to help us ensure your patient gets access to the correct clinical pathway without delay. Download the referral form, complete it and submit it via NHS e-Referrals.
For urgent issues you can request telephone advice from our consultants or nurse specialists by calling our service coordinator on 020 3311 7016.
Secondary care
Specialist referrals to the chronic pain service are by standard clinic letter on letterhead paper and should be copied to the GP in order to comply with funding regulations.
Please include details of the reason for referral and any pertinent past medical history or issues with English language comprehension.
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