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Persistent Non Cancer Pain
Resource type
Authors/contributors
- Wiggers, John (Author)
- O'Dea, Ian (Author)
- Gray, Jane (Author)
- Lynch, Margaret (Author)
- Tay, Tracey (Author)
- Hay, Liz (Author)
- Mackenzie, Marika (Author)
- Swan, Judith (Author)
- Harrison, Karen (Author)
Title
Persistent Non Cancer Pain
Abstract
One in five people will experience persistent pain in their lifetime. People who experience persistent pain access healthcare services more frequently and this places a great burden on the Australian economy, costing $34 billion a year. Persistent pain is 4% of all chronic problems managed by General Practitioners (GPs) which equates to around 74,000 persistent pain patient problems managed by GPs in 2013 in the Hunter Medicare Local (HML) region. The Hunter Integrated Pain Service (HIPS) offers specialist pain management support in the Hunter New England Local Health District (HNE LHD). HIPS was one of the first specialist teams that requested to be a part of the Hunter & New England (H&NE) HealthPathways process.
Series Title
Hunter & New England HealthPathways Phase 2 Evaluation
Date
July 2014
Language
en
Notes
Study topic:
Evaluation of the Persistent Non Cancer Pain HealthPathway and its impact on service redesign, referral quality, and GP support in the Hunter New England region.
Study type:
Mixed methods programme evaluation (including referral audits, usage analytics, and service data)
Key findings:
- The HealthPathway was a catalyst for service redesign within the Hunter Integrated Pain Service (HIPS), including reduced waiting times and new models of care.
- Median wait time from referral to first contact decreased to 41 days in 2013, with nearly half of that time due to delays in receiving patient questionnaires.
- GP phone consults for new patients showed an increasing trend, while review consults decreased, suggesting improved initial support.
- Feedback letters were sent to GPs for nearly all patients assessed, but less frequently for non-attenders or early leavers.
- Referral quality improved in some areas (e.g. inclusion of provider number, allergy info, pain site and duration), though some criteria (e.g. investigation findings) declined.
- Despite low GP usage of the HealthPathway itself, the development process led to updates in opioid prescribing guidelines, triage criteria, and patient education materials.
- The HIPS public website received 500–900 pageviews per quarter, with up to 14 GP users, indicating broader engagement beyond the HealthPathways platform.
- HealthPathways acted as a catalyst for system-level changes within the specialist pain service, even though direct GP uptake of the pathway remained limited.
Citation
Wiggers, J., O’Dea, I., Gray, J., Lynch, M., Tay, T., Hay, L., Mackenzie, M., Swan, J., & Harrison, K. (2014). Persistent Non Cancer Pain (Hunter & New England HealthPathways Phase 2 Evaluation).
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