https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/wards-and-departments/departments/clinical-specialties/pain-control-service/referrals-to-the-chronic-pain-management-service/

Referrals to the Chronic Pain Management service

Information on how to refer a patient to the Chronic Pain Management service at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) as well as the Clinician Telephone Support Service. Please read guidance on our conditions we treat prior to referral.

If you are not sure whether a referral is appropriate, please use the Clinician Telephone Support Service.

Our referral criteria:

  • Patients must be aged 16 years or under.
  • Pain must have been present for at least three months.
  • Referrals must be made by, or on behalf of, a Paediatrician or Hospital Consultant.
  • Patients must remain primarily under the care of a local Consultant (preferably a Paediatrician, but this may be any specialist consultant managing the patient’s care).

It may be possible to accept referrals for patients aged 17–18 years with certain pain conditions. Clinicians should contact the team to discuss this via the Clinician Telephone Support Service (see below).

Please note that we do not become the patient’s responsible clinical team. A responsible clinician must already be in place for the referral to be accepted. We are a specialist service commissioned to provide specialist pain management treatment and advice; therefore, we cannot take responsibility for other aspects of a patient’s care.

We require the full contact details of the responsible clinician to be provided at the time of referral. We also require a direct contact telephone number and an email address for the referrer (if different from the responsible clinician).

Please complete the following form:

Referral to Outpatient Chronic Pain Service

We require as much information as possible about the patient and their pain condition in order to fully consider the referral. Please ensure the following information is included:

  • Full patient name, address, and contact details
  • Reason for referral to the Chronic Pain Clinic
  • History of the presenting pain issue
  • Past medical history (full details where possible, not limited to pain-related conditions)
  • Current medication and details of medications previously tried
  • Details of current and previous physical therapy
  • Details of current and previous psychology or mental health involvement
  • Other therapies or treatments
  • Identified clinician with overall responsibility for care**
  • Details of other health professionals involved in the patient’s care
  • Information regarding any social care or child protection concerns (current or previous, where relevant)

Failure to provide the required information may result in a delay in offering an assessment while we contact the referrer for further details. In some cases, referrals may be rejected.

Although referrals are generally accepted only from hospital consultants and consultant paediatricians, in exceptional circumstances, GPs may refer directly to the service, provided the referral is supported by a responsible consultant who will remain involved in the patient’s care.

We will accept referrals in the form of:

  • A clinic letter (provided all required information is included), or
  • An attachment to a referral request letter using our referral proforma (see link above).

Referrals should be addressed to the Clinical Lead for Pain Management and can be sent via the following methods:

By fax:
020 7813 8322

By email:
gos-tr.referrals@nhs.net

By post:
Clinical Lead for Pain Management
Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine
Level 4, Old Building
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
London WC1N 3JH

Please note that this email address is a generic hospital referral inbox, and referrals will be forwarded to our service upon receipt.

If you would like to discuss the appropriateness of a referral or find out more about what our service can offer, please use the Clinician Telephone Support Service.

The Clinician Telephone Support Service (CTSS) is a free service for healthcare professionals seeking guidance from the Pain Team at GOSH to determine whether a referral is appropriate or whether continued local care is more suitable.The CTSS supports clinicians in deciding whether patients require specialist pain management input or whether current care can be optimised and continued locally.

This service is available only to healthcare professionals caring for children and young people. If you are a young person with chronic pain, or a parent or carer of such a person, please speak with your current care provider to find out how to access pain management services.

How to access the CTSS

The CTSS can be accessed by emailing:
ctss-pain@gosh.nhs.uk

Please include the following information in your email, (Please be aware that this email is not secure, so do not include large amounts of patient-identifiable information).

  • Your name and professional designation
  • Your contact telephone number (a direct number or mobile is preferable)
  • The name or initials and date of birth of the child or young person concerned
  • A brief summary of the enquiry

Your enquiry will be discussed with the Pain Management Team, and a clinician will contact you. We aim to respond as soon as possible. If a response is likely to take longer than two working days, you will be informed.

Confidentiality and data use

For clinical and confidentiality reasons, detailed management advice cannot be provided on individual cases until a referral has been formally accepted. However, we will discuss your current management approach and provide advice and recommendations on how best to proceed.

Information submitted to the GOSH Pain Control Service via the CTSS will be stored securely and confidentially. It will be used for monitoring the use, quality, and outcomes of the CTSS.