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Clinical Resources

Pain Service

Information Resources

The chronic pain team consists of a pain consultant/specialist, specialist clinical nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and health or clinical psychologist.

Interdisciplinary versus Multidisciplinary Approach

The team adheres to an interdisciplinary team philosophy which involves the following key features:

  1. Following assessment, the team decides on common treatment goals.
  2. The main task of all members of the team is to deliver patient centered care
  3. Team members will have an understanding of the skills of other disciplines involved in the team.
  4. There may be professional role blurring in areas of core self-management knowledge, skills and techniques
  5. Communication occurs between all team members
  6. All team members have equal status within the team
  7. Decisions are arrived at after considering input from all team members
Self-Management of Chronic Pain

The team holds a strong position that self-management of chronic pain is the main goal of treatment within the service. Patients are encouraged to take an active role in self-management strategies, and dependence on the service and its’ team members is discouraged.

The Chronic Pain Service Mission Statement

Facilitate people to reduce the impact of pain on their lives and maximise their quality of life.

Referrals and Advice

Bay of Plenty

  • Note that the Pain Clinic no longer holds an ACC contract, therefore ACC patients cannot be accepted. 
  • For a referral to be graded appropriately details of pain presentation, past medical/social/psychological history, medications current and previously tried, psychological presentation, level of function in the home and employment status should be included.
  • Drug and alcohol addiction and significant unresolved mental health issues need to be addressed prior to pain referral.
  • The Chronic pain service does not provide a paediatric service. Biomedical referrals will usually only be considered for those 16 years and over. Inclusion in the Pain Management Programme (PMP) is limited to over 21 years.
  • Patient with significant cognitive impairment or decline will not be accepted.
  • Our guidelines/policy for acceptance is that the patient is no longer actively seeking treatments or investigations, therefore we do not see people while they are undergoing other treatments so at this stage we will have to decline this referral. 
  • Palliative care patients should be referred to more appropriate specialised services.