Ian has praised the community pain management service which he has been attending since May 2018.
Local patient, Ian Gardner, bravely shared his story at November’s Governing Body meeting.
Ian has praised the community pain management service which he has been attending since May 2018. The service is run by PICS (Primary Integrated Community Services Limited) which is a community organisation which delivers a number of NHS services across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Read Ian’s story:
Ian was referred by his GP to the PICS Community pain pathway in May 2018. He has chronic pain following a sky diving accident over 20 years ago. He was cautious regarding analgesia and pain was having a significant impact upon his daily life.
Ian was initially triaged to biopsychosocial assessment with a Pain Practitioner. This is an holistic assessment which takes into account the effect that pain is having on an individual’s life. Ian agreed to start the “Living Well with Pain” group Programme.
This is an 8 week (3 hrs a week) ACT (Acceptance and commitment Therapy) based programme focussing on education, practical and psychological skill acquisition, with mindfulness modalities to live meaningful life with pain.
Ian attended all sessions and during a subsequent refresher session was identified he may benefit from 1:1 CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) follow up.
Ian subsequently attended a CBT assessment and 2 further follow up sessions, to formulate his resistance and enable him to make sense of his barriers and obstacles to recovery, and support behavioural changes he had already begun to make.
Ian now has a more flexible response to his pain, uses medications on a regular basis as a tool in his kit. Ian paces activity, where possible and is finding he can gradually increase this. Has returned to more active pursuits outside work, cycling more, and more physical duties most recently at work.
Prior to attending the Pain clinic, Ian had attended over 20 appointments with various health professionals and been offered multiple interventions including surgery, injections and Physiotherapy. These had afforded him some short term relief but having the tools and understanding to live alongside pain in the longer term is paramount.
Thank you to Ian and the PICS team for sharing this important story.