Search for a command to run...
<h3>Introduction</h3> In light of the increasing role of multimodal and tailored therapy for pain management in current practice the need for a clear understanding of speciality services available to Palliative Care teams across the UK has become essential in providing optimal pain management. <h3>Methods</h3> Using established networks in the Palliative Care training programme within the UK a questionnaire was disseminated to clinicians working in pain and symptom management to ask them to share their local and regional connections and contacts for the management of complex pain. This questionnaire (hosted using Microsoft Forms) was disseminated via email with first and subsequent reminders. The questionnaire asked respondents to describe their relationship with relevant specialist including spinal and orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery, interventional pain, clinical oncology and psychological medicine. The questionnaire aimed to determine how established these relationships were, if regular meetings between specialities were held and if clear inclusion and exclusion criteria for referrals exist. <h3>Results</h3> The results highlight the highly variable nature of pain networks across the UK with some areas having highly developed and well-integrated collaborative fora, and others having limited or no access to key specialities. Around 80% of respondents had a formal or informal relationship with psychological medicine services in contrast to 61% having no relationship at all with a neurosurgical service. A recurring theme across all relationships with specialist services was an absence of clear inclusion and exclusion criteria for referrals or established referral pathway. Examples of well established and well-integrated relationships were identified in multiple areas of the UK. <h3>Conclusion</h3> These results suggest that management of complex pain is highly variable across the UK due to networks of differing maturity, formality and integration. Exemplar services may serve as guidance for the development of similar services.