Average nine-month wait for appointment at pain clinic

Medical Specialist Group chairman Dr Steve Evans confirmed the average wait time from getting a referral to getting an appointment with the clinics, which the group runs.

As the island’s population ages, Dr Evans estimated that at least one in three people has some form of chronic pain, and that has led to an increase in demand.

More than 40% of the island are aged over 50 years old.

Another explanation for the increase has been greater awareness of the clinics.

‘Other reasons are likely to include changes in the musculoskeletal services offered by GPs and waiting times for spinal surgery in the UK,’ he added.

‘The average waiting time for an outpatient consultant pain specialist appointment is now 38 weeks.

‘This follows a 42% increase in referrals to the service in 2023 (compared to the previous five-year average).’

However, Dr Evans said that every referral is reviewed carefully to see if early intervention might improve a patient’s long-term outcome, in which case they would be seen sooner.

‘We also fast-track some patients directly to physiotherapy, the pain management programme or psychology services,’ he said.

‘It goes without saying that we are not happy that some patients are waiting a long time to be seen.

‘We are constantly looking at ways to work more efficiently so that patients do not have to wait so long.’

MSG continued to discuss the increasing demand for health services with Health and Social Care, he said.

He urged anyone who no longer needed a pain clinic appointment to cancel it so the slot can be given to someone else – about one in 10 patients failed to turn up for appointments last year, he said.

New patients are seen for 45 minutes as part of an initial assessment, which is followed by further appointments, lasting half an hour, after treatments or imaging.

Dr Evans said that there is an average of 1.5 follow-up appointments for each new patient.

PAIN management clinics have been offered by the MSG since it opened in 1992 and are provided by three consultant anaesthetists who divide their time between the clinics and providing anaesthesia.

Unlike acute pain, chronic pain is often incurable, said MSG chairman Dr Steve Evans.

‘Our clinics are part of the multidisciplinary pain management team which focuses on enabling people to manage their chronic pain so that we can improve their quality of life and functionality.’

As well as medications, the clinics offer a variety of techniques and treatments to help patients manage and reduce their pain such as injections or nerve blocks which target the pain’s source.

Then there are physical, occupational or psychological therapies, complementary methods such as acupuncture, massage and meditation and changes to lifestyle such as adequate sleep and a healthy diet ‘which can significantly affect pain levels and overall wellbeing’.

The majority of medications prescribed by the clinics are also available from GPs, with Lidocaine patches being one exception.

These are available only for lasting pain following shingles after Health and Social Care decided to follow English guidance that the patches should not be prescribed routinely.