Pain Management | North Bristol NHS Trust

Pain Management Services

For many people who live with persistent/chronic pain, medical interventions have only provided a small part of the relief that they had hoped for. Sometimes, these medical treatments can cause unhelpful side effects. For others, they have been told that there is nothing more that can be offered to relieve their pain at this stage. This, understandably, can lead to feelings of frustration, sadness, anger and worry.

Pain can affect sleep, mobility, social life, work, and energy levels. Once these areas have been affected, the changes in those areas of life can start to worsen the pain itself. Sometimes, this is called a "vicious circle". Pain management involves recognising these interactions and finding different ways to improve all areas of life, even if the pain can't be cured.

Aims of our service

The pain management service runs jointly with North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW). It focuses on quality of life – it looks to help improve physical, emotional and social wellbeing in spite of the pain.

Pain Management appointments

When a person is referred to pain management they will usually receive an invite to attend an information meeting.

Information meeting

This will provide information for patients new to the service. You will be given the opportunity to meet some of the professionals who work in the team and to ask questions. This is your opportunity to decide if this is the right service for you, and whether now is the right time.

After the meeting you will be given the opportunity to opt-in and you will be offered a one-to-one assessment appointment. At this next appointment we will be able to explore in more detail your hopes in accessing input with us and the next steps will be discussed.

Contact Pain Management Service

For all appointment enquiries, please contact:

Pain Management
Gloucester House
Southmead Hospital
Telephone: 0117 414 7357
email: painmanagementcentre@nbt.nhs.uk

Please note that we are not a crisis service and we may not be able to answer your call but you are more than welcome to leave us a voice message and we will get back to you within 2-3 working days.

If you need urgent medical support or advice you will need to contact your GP, or phone 111 or 999.

If you feel you need emotional support urgently, please contact your GP, or if you live in Bristol, the Bristol Mental Health Service response line on 0800 953 1919.

If you wish to speak to to the Pain Clinic, please visit the Pain Clinic page.