Inpatient Pain Service

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Updated 13 March 2023

What we do

The Inpatient Pain Team at DCHFT understand the impact of acute, chronic, complex or cancer pain can have on a patient of all ages and their carers and families. We recognise that the inpatient pain services remit is expanding to not only assess, plan and monitor acute pain but to include the care of medical inpatients and patients with complex pain problems such as acute-on-chronic pain or opioid misuse. We are proud to use a holistic and interventional approach to pain management within the Trust and work with other groups of health care professionals to best support our patients.

Team objectives

Pain management – Pain will be re-assessed regularly and managed to a degree that is acceptable to the patient and achievable within current knowledge.

Pain assessment – All patients will have their pain assessed using a recognised pain assessment tools to enable appropriate pain management.

Pain information – Patients and carers will have the information they seek relating to the options for the treatment of acute pain, to enable them to make an informed choice.

Education and practice – All professional staff have access to up-to-date knowledge on the principles and practice of acute pain relief and can demonstrate an appropriate level of skill for their area of work. They will have an awareness of acute-on chronic pain and know when to refer an appropriate patient to the Inpatient Pain Service.

Pain communication – There is honest, open effective communication and collaboration between patients, the patients’ carers and the multi-disciplinary professionals, to provide the care and support for patients with acute, chronic, complex or cancer pain.