What we do

The Pain Service includes Acute and Chronic Pain subdivisions with administrative and clinical overlaps.

‘Acute Pain’ is pain of recent onset and generally of limited duration. Commonly caused by surgery / trauma etc. All the wards and medical personnel should be well equipped to manage acute pain in their patients. Acute pain nurses are accessible along with consultant support for advice and help in special cases.

‘Chronic Pain’ is long term in nature and can have a debilitating effect on all aspects of the patient’s lifestyle. There may be significant influence of bio-psycho-social factors contributing to the perception of chronic pain. Hence, management is mostly outpatient based and may involve a multidisciplinary approach.

Acute Pain Service (Bleep – 51148)

The Acute Pain Service covers patients with:

  • Epidural infusion analgesia
  • Problems with Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), nerve block infusion devices
  • Special non-surgical pain situations, eg fractured ribs, acute ischaemic limb pain etc

When patients are referred, certain information should be available:

  • How long has the patient had their pain for?
  • What investigations has the patient undergone?
  • Is there a cause identified for the pain?
  • What medication are they prescribed and how often?
  • Are there any other ongoing problems, eg nausea or vomiting, allergies, intolerances, recurrent admissions, addiction or dependency concerns etc.

Chronic Pain Service

The chronic pain service is primarily outpatient based, accepting direct referrals from other specialties and from GP’s through Choose and Book referrals. Current figures indicate about 1300 new patients being seen in a year. The Outpatient Pain Clinics are located across the region to cover a large catchment area stretching from Peterlee to South Shields and Roker to Washington.

Psychology and Physiotherapy provide a multidisciplinary support. Suitable patients are preassessed to undergo either an individualised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or a group based pain management programme (PMP).

The Pain Service is based at Sunderland Royal Hospital and there are ample training opportunities for junior doctors of all grades. Theatre interventions are generally planned well ahead and Radiology Department provides support for a variety of procedures to be carried out in the Day Case Unit.

Who we are

  • Inpatient Pain Specialist Nurses: Faye Travis, Nova Wilson, Michelle Cook
  • Inpatient Pain Service Lead Consultant: Dr Sarah Gibb
  • Acute/chronic pain consultant- Dr Allistair Dodds

 

 

  • Consultants – Dr Allistair Dodds, Dr Sreedhar Gudipati, Dr Kiran Koneti, Dr Amit Kumar, Dr Sanjay Varma
  • Pharmacist – Specialised in Chronic Pain – Evonne Clarke

Where we are based

Clinics are based at:

  • Sunderland Royal Hospital – Chester Wing / Chester Lodge Outpatients
  • Washington Galleries – Health Centre Outpatients
  • South Shields – Cleadon Park Outpatients

To reach a clinic using satellite navigation, use the following:

  • Sunderland Royal Hospital – SR4 7TP
  • Washington Galleries – NE38 7NF
  • Cleadon Park, South Shields – NE34 7QD

How you can contact us

The Acute Pain Service is covered during normal working hours, Monday to Friday by the Acute Pain Nurses (Bleep – 51148), and at all other times by First On Call Emergency Anaesthetist (Bleep  – 51351)

Secretaries:

  • Carolyn Ross-Allison – 42446
  • Debra Hanson – 42341
  • Sian Garnett - 42977
  • Amanda Laidler - 49628

Patients can be referred into the chronic pain service through Choose and Book referrals from general practitioners, MSK service and direct referrals from specialists.

Return to Acute Pain / Pain Management