Psychology assessment appointments

What will happen when I see a member of the Pain Clinical Psychology Team for an assessment appointment?

If you decide to “opt-in”, you will be invited to an assessment appointment. When you arrive, you will be asked to complete some questionnaires in the waiting room, which you will take into the appointment with you. Psychologists do not prescribe medication or perform physical examinations.

This appointment lasts up to 1.5 hours. You are welcome to bring someone with you if this would be helpful for you. We understand that you may need to stand, walk or stretch during the appointment.

We will talk about your pain, including the possible impact on your life and emotions.  We will ask some broader questions about your life to understand more about you and your pain. After the assessment appointment, we will write a letter to you and your GP. The letter will outline what we feel might be the most appropriate next steps for you.

The next steps

After the assessment appointment we will write to you with a plan for the next steps.

• We might recommend that you are added to a waiting list to attend further appointments at the Pain Management Service. These appointments may be in a group or 1:1. We will contact you when you reach the top of the list.
• It may be that other services are better able to support you with the needs that you have at this time. You may be able to refer yourself to these services, or we may need to make a referral for you.
• It may be that you are managing your pain well, and you do not need pain psychology at this time.

Confidentiality

We respect the information you give us. In the assessment appointment we will talk about where your information is stored. We will also talk about what information we would share or might need to share with other professionals. We may need to talk to other people (e.g., other services) when we are worried about your safety and/or other people’s safety. If we are worried about safety, we will always try and speak to you about this first.

Attendance

There is high demand for our service. Therefore, it is important that you let us know if you need to cancel or re-arrange an appointment.  We will try and support you to access the service and offer different means of contact (face to face or video). We may need to discharge you if you do not attend or if you cancel multiple appointments.

What if I do not want a psychology appointment?

You do not have to see a member of the psychology team. If you decide not to “opt-in” for a psychology assessment but you are having other treatment at the Pain Clinic, this will continue as usual at the discretion of you Consultant.