Our pain service comprises of two main areas - acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain service provides support to admitted patients in the hospital, and is available at both Sunderland Royal Hospital and South Tyneside District Hospital. This may include patients who have had major surgery or patients admitted with ongoing medical conditions and have challenging pain medication requirements. Chronic management helps patients suffering from long term pain and is available at Sunderland Royal Hospital.
The pain management unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital is one of the biggest of its kind in the North of England, working in close integration with psychology and physiotherapy. Initial assessment is carried out at outpatient clinics with an attendance of around 1,350 new patients every year. The clinical team comprises of consultants, specialist nurses, pharmacist, junior doctors in training and is well supported by a team of dedicated secretaries.
Initial clinic assessment may be followed by changes in medication, injection procedures, supportive strategies through physiotherapy and psychology or a combination of these as considered appropriate.
Finding us
Our Anaesthetics departments can be found at both South Tyneside District Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital.
For navigation, the following are the postcodes for the offsite Outpatient Pain Clinics:
Cleadon Park Primary Care Centre, Prince Edward Road, South Shields, NE34 7QD
Washington Galleries Health Centre, Washington, NE38 7NQ
Contact us
South Tyneside District Hospital
Our Acute Pain Management service is available Monday-Friday 9-5pm, they can be reached at bleep 50042 through the hospital switchboard 0191 4041000.
Sunderland Royal Hospital
Pain Management secretaries can be reached at the following extensions through the hospital switchboard:
0191 5656256 extension 49628.
Our team
Divisional Director - Helen Turnbull
Directorate Manager - Sue Askew
Clinical Director - Martin Millar
Clinical Lead - Amit Kumar
Matron - Jayne Billings
