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Wirral University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

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  3. Wirral Chronic Pain Service

  4. Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

We work together as a multi-disciplinary team to best support you. Sometimes we work individually with support from other members of the team. This may include liaising with other services.  

Administrators  

Our admin team make sure the service runs smoothly and look after non-clinical matters.  

  • Book patient appointments.  
  • Act as the first point of contact for patients. 
  • Check patients into appointments when they arrive. 

 

Pain Physiotherapists 

We have pain physiotherapists who specialise in the assessment, diagnosis, and management of chronic/persistent pain. 

  • Look at how patients’ general health and previous investigations, such as blood tests and x-rays impact chronic/persistent pain. 
  • Work with our patients to help you understand and how to manage pain, including what triggers pain. 
  • Work with our patients to create individual pain management plans and help you improve your ability to do day to day activities using pain management strategies such as pacing and physical exercises. 
  • Work with our patients to decide the most appropriate ways the service can help you manage pain. This might include being referred to one of our pain management programs or a referral to another member of our team. 

Please note our chronic pain specialist physiotherapists work differently to other physiotherapists you might have seen in the past and will aim to provide a holistic approach to your care.  

 

Pain Psychologists 

We have a team of psychologists who work with patients to help you understand how psychological and social factors such as thoughts, feeling, and relationships influence chronic/persistent pain. This is overseen by a Principal Clinical Psychologist. Examples of patient-facing work a psychologist might do:  

  • Conduct initial biopsychosocial assessments with you to collaboratively understand how pain impacts daily life and mental health. 
  • Offer one-off consultation to help you make sense of your psychological problems. 
  • Signposting to mental health services.  
  • Conducting one to one or group sessions using evidence-based therapies to help you manage thoughts and feelings that come up when living with pain. 
  • Provide psychoeducation on how psychological and social factors such as stress, anxiety, or relationships impact pain.  
  • Deliver psychologically-focused elements of the pain management programme.  
  • Deliver a mindfulness group. 

Please note we are aware that seeing a psychologist can cause anxiety for some patients. However, if you are referred to see a psychologist, it does not mean the pain is in your head or that you have mental health problems. 

Please see our leaflets section for more information about what the psychology team do.  

 

Therapy Assistant

The therapy assistant works with the whole chronic pain team, to assist with all aspects of patient care.  

  • Coming onto our pain management programmes to set up the rooms and do chair-based exercises and stretch and refresh sessions. 
  • Cofacilitate our mindfulness classes and set up the rooms. 
  • Working with you one to one to do chair-based exercise classes. 

 

Occupational Therapists

Our specialist OT works to help you improve your ability to complete tasks at home or work which are difficult due to chronic pain.  

  • Working with you to help you identify what activities matter most to you. 
  • Work with you to develop strategies to make these valued activities easier and more fulfilling, to improve quality of life and function.  
  • Work with you to help you adapt your environment and provide problem solving strategies. 
  • Use our knowledge and links within the community to provide opportunities to learn new skills and improve social support. 
  • Conduct one to one mindfulness sessions with you to help you manage stress. 

 

Pharmacist 

The pain pharmacist in our team will explain the medications that may help manage different types of chronic pain.   

  • Working with you to conduct one to one medication reviews to look benefits of medicines as well as potential side effects. 
  • Provide education about pain medications on our pain management programs. 

 

Medical Doctors 

Our pain specialist medical consultants come from the anaesthetic branch of medicine. We focus on complex medical diagnoses, often mixed with pain conditions and sometimes interventional pain medicine (injections). We are also experts at using combinations of medicines that can help pain. We have a good knowledge of all aspects of pain and the science behind it.