A survey of pain relief clinics in the South Western Region.
All the district general hospitals in the South Western Health Region have a pain relief service in existence or planned for the immediate future. Almost all are recognized by the allocation of anaesthetic consultant sessions. In most cases, this allocation is less than the time required for pain relief. All the consultants concerned work in single disciplinary clinics and accept both in-patient and out-patient referrals. They provide an advisory and therapeutic service to patients in the care of other clinicians and give tuition, mainly to junior anaesthetists. Most also undertake domiciliary assessment and treatment. In most clinics the Pain Relief Service is hampered by inadequate facilities. The minimum facilities for a basic efficient service are here reviewed.
D003625:Data Collection; D004739:England; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D059408:Pain Management