NHS Chronic Pain Waiting Time
NHS chronic pain clinic referrals fall under Pain Management. Waiting times are among the longest in the NHS — find the fastest clinic near you.
Data source: Pain Management waiting times — the NHS specialty that covers Chronic Pain.
26w
Avg treatment wait
6w
Shortest wait
50w
Longest wait
137
Hospitals reporting
Find the shortest Chronic Pain wait near you
Enter your postcode to get a ranked list of every NHS Pain Management provider in England.
About Chronic Pain on the NHS
Specialist pain management for chronic conditions — including nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, ketamine infusions, and multidisciplinary pain programmes — is delivered within the NHS Pain Management specialty. It is one of the longest-wait specialties in England.
Shortest Pain Management waits in England
Chronic Pain is treated within the Pain Management specialty. These are the trusts with the shortest current waits.
| # | Hospital | Region | Avg treatment wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Buckhurst Hill Essex Nuffield | East of England | 6w |
| 02 | Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | South East | 9w |
| 03 | Fulwood Hall Hospital - Ramsay | North West | 9w |
| 04 | Mount Alvernia Hospital - Circle | South East | 10w |
| 05 | Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | North West | 10w |
| 06 | James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | East of England | 11w |
| 07 | Highgate Hospital (London) - Nuffield | London | 11w |
| 08 | Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust | South East | 12w |
| 09 | Birmingham Practice Plus Group | Midlands | 13w |
| 10 | The Shelburne Hospital - Circle | South East | 13w |
Average Chronic Pain wait by region
Your right to choose where you are treated
Under the NHS Constitution and the Health Act 2009, you have a legal right to choose which NHS or NHS-commissioned independent sector provider sees you for your first outpatient appointment.
Your GP must refer you via the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) and offer you at least five choices. If you were referred to a hospital with a long wait, you can ask your GP to re-refer you to a provider with a shorter wait — this is your legal right.
Research shows the average extra distance to a significantly shorter wait is just 13 miles.
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