The Caulfield Pain Management and Research Centre is part of the DHHS Health Independence Program.

The service is a multidisciplinary service focused on exploring how to self-manage to live well with the presence of persistent or chronic pain.

The Centre aims to assist patients to reduce the impact of persistent pain by optimising pain treatments, improving function and promoting self-management.

This is achieved through expert assessment, patient education and access to a number of medical, Nursing and Allied Health treatment modalities.

The centre undertakes research on outcomes of pain treatments, psychosocial aspects of chronic pain, pain and ageing and novel therapies for pain.

It also has close links with The Alfred's Acute Pain Service (in Anaesthesia) as well as various specialist services treating chronic pain conditions. Together the services are accredited for training in Pain Medicine by the Faculty of Pain Medicine.

Services Offered

Specialist Medical assessment including advice and recommendations for ongoing treatment
Addiction medicine
Medication reduction advice and support
Psychiatry
Multidisciplinary Pain Management programmes
Occupational therapy
Physiotherapy
Allied health assistant
Clinical psychology
Nurse
Feldenkrais practitioner
Education to referrers and other parties
Referral for interventions, when indicated
Medico Legal reports

Pain Management Programs Offered

Service information and triage consultation – telephone consultation
Start UP group program focusing on function and movement
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) Pain Management Group programs
Modules – Feldenkrais, stress, sleep
Hydrotherapy
Individual Allied Health Therapy

Following acceptance of a referral:

Clients will be;

1. Sent an Initial Pain questionnaire via email /post that needs to be completed and returned before an appointment can be made.
2. Invited to attend the service information and triage consultation, a 20-minute telephone consultation to discuss client expectations and ensure this is the right service at the right time their needs

Some clients may go direct to a medical assessment where there are identified risk and other areas of concern.

After this the assessment process may involve;

An assessment with our Allied Health multidisciplinary team (this includes OT, Physio and Psychology) is a requirement if continuing on with therapeutic programs.

An assessment report is sent to the client and their GP and or referring Doctor with a summary of key findings and recommendations following the multidisciplinary assessment.

An Assessment with a Medical Pain Specialist.

Correspondence will be sent to the GP/referrer advising of any recommendations following an assessment and review appointments.

Referrals are appropriate for clients who have;

Persistent or chronic pain (> 3 months duration) with symptoms that impact on daily activities including impact on work, study, school or carer role
Adequate trial of treatment in previous 12 months (exercise and analgesia)
At risk of functional or psychological deterioration, or medication dependence
Willing to explore living well with pain and is willing to learn to self-manage ongoing pain.

And meet one of the following criteria;

Pain requires complex medication management
Persistent or chronic neuropathic pain
Persistent or chronic pain in cancer survivors
Persistent or chronic post-surgical or post-traumatic pain
Persistent or chronic primary pain
Persistent or chronic secondary headache or orofacial
Persistent or chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain
Persistent or chronic visceral pain
New persistent or chronic pain related to a COVID-19 infection

For further details on referral guidelines for Chronic Pain Services please refer to the Department of Health (DHS) Statewide Referral Criteria for Specialist Clinics https://src.health.vic.gov.au/specialities.

Referral are not appropriate for:

Patients who are currently not willing to explore living well with pain and not willing to learn to self-manage ongoing pain
Patients already referred to another pain service for the assessment, or treatment of, the identifiable cause of pain
Patients currently undertaking another chronic pain management program
Patients with mild or tension headaches or untreated typical migraine
Patients who have already completed a multidisciplinary, comprehensive chronic pain management program or service for the same identifiable cause of pain where their clinical symptoms, or their readiness to undertake a chronic pain management program, remains unchanged
Patients who only want an intervention such as an injection or dry needling

The following conditions are not routinely seen at Alfred Health:

Patients who are being treated for the same condition at another Victorian public hospital
Children under 18 years of age

We do not encourage referrals for only medication / prescription renewals.

Refer your patient via eReferral
- Completed referrals are sent securely to the department or clinic selected.
- You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt and progress updates on your referral
- A copy of the referral will automatically be stored securely in the patient’s record.
Create a Consultmed account or login to your Consultmed account here.
For questions, feedback or technical support, visit our eReferral webpage.

A/Prof Carolyn Arnold: Pain Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine

Dr Sarah Donovan: Pain Medicine

Dr Jason Teh: Rehabilitation Medicine, Pain Medicine

Dr Phoebe Gao: Psychiatry

Dr Matthew Frei: Addiction Medicine