Pain management

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

British pain society

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.