This is for POWH Surgery Services
Endoscopy at The Billington Centre
How we can help you
Our centre performs procedures to assess and treat problems with your oesophagus, stomach, or bowel. We use endoscopes which are small cameras that we insert in your gastrointestinal tract. We use different medicines to keep you feeling relaxed during your procedure.
We care for patients admitted to hospital and people in the community referred to us by gastroenterologists and surgeons.
Managers
Nursing Unit Manager Cassandra Northey
Head of Gastroenterology Department Professor Stephen Riordan
Opening hours
Monday to Friday 7.30am – 4.30pm
We are closed on weekends and public holidays.
Appointment bookings
Please make bookings between Monday to Friday 7.30 am - 4.00 pm
How to find us
Level 2, Campus Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital (Building 16 on our campus map)
Information about how to get to our Randwick campus
We provide the following procedures:
- Gastroscopy is a technique to look directly into your gullet (oesophagus), stomach and the first part of the small bowel (duodenum)
- Colonoscopy is an examination of the large bowel (colon)
- Sigmoidoscopy which is a procedure to look inside the rectum and sigmoid (lower) colon (the first 60cm of the bowel) for polyps, abnormal areas, or cancer. A sigmoidoscope is inserted through the anus and rectum into the lower part of the colon (sigmoid colon)
- Pill Cam which is a capsule based endoscopy
- Abdominal paracentesis, is a procedure to remove fluid from the abdomen
- Banding of haemorrhoids with rubber bands
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is procedure where any abnormality of the pancreas or surrounding area can be seen and biopsies may be taken
- Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) which is used to diagnose any biliary tract problems such as gall stones, jaundice and obstruction of bile
- Removing a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) or other feeding tubes. These tubes enable feeding if you cannot take food through your mouth
We also have an outpatient liver clinic to provide treatments for people with viral hepatitis and conduct Fibroscan which is an ultrasound to assess the degree of scarring in your liver.
Our team includes:
- Medical specialists including Gastroenterologists and Surgeons who will perform your procedure and assess, treat and manage your care.
- An expert team of Anaesthetists and anaesthesia nurses will provide your anaesthesia throughout the procedure
- Nursing Unit Manager and team of experienced endoscopy nurses manage our everyday activities.
- Gastroenterology/Hepatology Clinical Nurse Consultants (CNCs) are trained specialists who provide support and education.
- Enteral and Parenteral/ IV Nutrition Support CNC supports our weekly outpatient clinic for people with gastrointestinal feeding problems and feeding tube changes.
- Administration staff who will help you make appointments and provide you all the appropriate information regarding your procedure, including the booking information and documents describing the different procedures.
We work in partnership with the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.
The Billington Centre does not accept direct bookings from your local general practitioner (GP). Your GP will need to refer you to a specialist doctor such as a gastroenterologist or surgeon first.
You will have seen this specialist in either their private medical service or in our specialist Gastroenterology Clinic at the Outpatient Department of Prince of Wales Hospital. At this consultation the specialist will determine if you will need to have an endoscopic procedure, if you do, they will write you a referral to the Billington Centre.
Your specialist doctor will either arrange your appointment for you directly with the Billington Centre or will give you a booking form to take to our Centre to organise the appointment yourself.
If you need to attend the Billington Centre in person to make your appointment, the Office is open 7.30am - 4.00pm daily for bookings (closed on weekends, Public Holidays and one Friday a month). You must bring along your RFA/booking form from your specialist.
The Billington Centre will then send you your appointment either by post or email. If you provide your mobile phone number you will receive a SMS reminder a week before your appointment.
Can I chose the day and time I attend the centre for my appointment?
The Billington Centre procedures are organised for certain doctors on certain days. We will find you the next available appointment time that matches when your required specialist is available.
What if I need to cancel my appointment for the procedure?
Once your appointment is booked, you will receive a text message a week in advance to remind you of the date and time. This message will include a contact number so you can call us if you cannot attend. We will re-book your appointment if necessary.
You will receive a letter in the mail describing how to prepare for your endoscopic procedure before you come to hospital. It will also confirm your appointment time and date. Please follow the instructions carefully, especially the instructions about diet and fasting. If these instructions are not followed, we may not be able to do the procedure.
Please make arrangements for a responsible adult to pick you up from hospital to take you home and stay with you overnight after your procedure. You must not drive a car or operate complex machinery for 24 hours after your procedure.
What do I need to bring on the day of my procedure?
Please bring:
- Your referral letter from your GP
- Your Medicare card
- A list of your medicines or bring all your medicines in a bag, including any herbal or over the counter medicines
- Your CPAP machine if you are required to use one
- You are welcome to bring a support person (a relative, friend or carer) with you
- Any test results, x-rays or reports relating to your current medical condition.
- You may have to wait a while before your procedure so we recommend that you bring reading material with you.
- Please do not bring jewellery including body piercings, valuables or large amounts of money. The hospital cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to your property.
- Please remove nail polish and shellac.
- a responsible adult must take you home after you have had your procedure and stay with you overnight due to the anaesthetic you will be given. The procedure cannot go ahead if there is not a responsible adult whom can do this. On admission the nurses must get a mobile/phone number to contact that person, if not, we may have to reschedule to a time that is suitable for that person to collect you after your procedure.
You will need continue to visit your local GP. We will send them a report on your procedure. Your specialist will let you know if you need to make an appointment with your GP.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.
As we are a teaching hospital, you may be asked to be involved in research, or for a student to be present at your appointment. You have a right to say no. If you do so, this will not impact in any way on the services we will provide.
Dental and Maxillofacial Department
How we can help you
We provide medical and surgical care for patients with head, neck, facial, mouth or dental injuries or illnesses.
Our services include:
- routine dental care for adults and children with special needs including people with autism or experience developmental delay
- surgical correction of the jaw or orthodontic services for patients with cleft palate or craniofacial patients from Sydney Children's hospital
- implants for facial prostheses
- designing special feeding plates for newborns with cleft lip/palates
- care for patients with head and neck cancer.
We also provide 24/7 treatment for emergency dental or facial trauma and infections through the emergency departments of both Prince of Wales Hospital and Sydney Children's Hospital.
Manager
Dr RM Toll
Opening Hours
8.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Closed on weekends and public holidays
How to find us
Level 2, High St Building, Prince of Wales Hospital (Building 2 on our campus map)
Information about how to get to our Randwick campus
Our team includes:
- Dentists
- Orthodontist
- Maxillofacial Surgeons and their Registrars
- Dental Assistants who make appointments and answer your queries.
We work in partnership with the referring specialists and doctors of both Prince of Wales and Sydney Children Hospitals and the emergency departments of these hospitals.
We work with Sydney Dental Hospital Maxillofacial Special Prosthetic Department and their Orthodontic Department.
The dental and maxillofacial department has doctor clinics at set times, these include:
| Clinic | Services | Contact phone |
| Dental clinic | Dental treatment and advice | 02 9382 2245 |
| Orthodontist clinic | Our Orthodontist provides orthodontic treatment. | 02 9382 2245 |
| Maxillofacial clinic | Our maxillofacial surgeon or his registrar will look after you if you have a facial trauma, facial infection, mouth disease or need surgery on your jaw. | 02 9382 2245 |
We are a hospital based service and only accept referrals from Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital and The Royal Hospital for Women.
We will ring you or send you a letter for an appointment, or you can call us on 02 9382 2245 between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday to make or cancel an appointment.
If you are booked for surgery then you will need to ring 02 9382 2222 and ask for Admissions Office at Prince of Wales Hospital or Sydney Children Hospital.
Depending on the urgency, you may be seen within 24 hours, a few days or a few weeks.
For Orthodontics, the waiting period maybe 6 to 12 months.
Please bring:
- Your referral letter if you have one
- All X-rays related to your problem
- List of all the medicines you are currently taking
- Your Medicare card.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.
Dental and Maxillofacial Department
How we can help you
We provide medical and surgical care for patients with head, neck, facial, mouth or dental injuries or illnesses.
Our services include:
- routine dental care for adults and children with special needs including people with autism or experience developmental delay
- surgical correction of the jaw or orthodontic services for patients with cleft palate or craniofacial patients from Sydney Children's hospital
- implants for facial prostheses
- designing special feeding plates for newborns with cleft lip/palates
- care for patients with head and neck cancer.
We also provide 24/7 treatment for emergency dental or facial trauma and infections through the emergency departments of both Prince of Wales Hospital and Sydney Children's Hospital.
Manager
Dr RM Toll
Opening Hours
8.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Closed on weekends and public holidays
How to find us
Level 2, High St Building, Prince of Wales Hospital (Building 2 on our campus map)
Information about how to get to our Randwick campus
Our team includes:
- Dentists
- Orthodontist
- Maxillofacial Surgeons and their Registrars
- Dental Assistants who make appointments and answer your queries.
We work in partnership with the referring specialists and doctors of both Prince of Wales and Sydney Children Hospitals and the emergency departments of these hospitals.
We work with Sydney Dental Hospital Maxillofacial Special Prosthetic Department and their Orthodontic Department.
The dental and maxillofacial department has doctor clinics at set times, these include:
| Clinic | Services | Contact phone |
| Dental clinic | Dental treatment and advice | 02 9382 2245 |
| Orthodontist clinic | Our Orthodontist provides orthodontic treatment. | 02 9382 2245 |
| Maxillofacial clinic | Our maxillofacial surgeon or his registrar will look after you if you have a facial trauma, facial infection, mouth disease or need surgery on your jaw. | 02 9382 2245 |
We are a hospital based service and only accept referrals from Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital and The Royal Hospital for Women.
We will ring you or send you a letter for an appointment, or you can call us on 02 9382 2245 between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday to make or cancel an appointment.
If you are booked for surgery then you will need to ring 02 9382 2222 and ask for Admissions Office at Prince of Wales Hospital or Sydney Children Hospital.
Depending on the urgency, you may be seen within 24 hours, a few days or a few weeks.
For Orthodontics, the waiting period maybe 6 to 12 months.
Please bring:
- Your referral letter if you have one
- All X-rays related to your problem
- List of all the medicines you are currently taking
- Your Medicare card.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.
Pain Management Department
How we can help you
We help you manage your pain and its impact on your life. We focus on the medical, physical, social, psychological and environmental factors associated with pain.
We can help you develop a plan to:
- reduce how much pain you are feeling
- increase what you can do
- regain control of your life, and
- improve the quality of your life.
Managers
Director A/Prof K E Khor
Nurse Manager David Begley
Opening hours
Pain Clinic days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday.
How to find us
The Prince of Wales Hospital Pain Management Services (and Pain Clinic) are located at: Outpatients Department, Level 2, Campus Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital (Building 16 on our campus map)
Information about how to get to our Randwick campus
We are a team of health professionals, based in the Hospital, who will work with you to help you manage your pain.
Our doctors specialise in pain medicine, anaesthesia, geriatric medicine, addiction medicine, psychiatry and rehabilitation medicine. They will help you:
- Understand your pain and what may be causing it
- Reduce your pain using medicines and other treatments
- Maximise what you are able to do when you have pain
- Understand how your pain is affecting your physical and emotional health
- Use prescribed pain medicines safely
- Manage short term experiences of acute pain such as after having surgery.
Our nurses will assess your pain, give you education and pain treatments. Our nurses can help answer questions you have about treatments or medicines. Our nurses also will work with you in our pain programs, focusing on mindfulness and medicines.
Our physiotherapist will have time to explain what is happening when your body is in pain and how that can impact how you move and use your body. They can assess how you are moving and help you find more comfortable ways to move and use your body. They can help you get back to doing things that are important to you like exercise, work, or hobbies. They can work with you face to face in the hospital or via telehealth and within group pain management programs and exercise groups.
Our clinical psychologists will explore how you are coping with your pain and its impact on your life (mood, stress, sleep, family, work and leisure activities). They can help you manage unhelpful thoughts that cause distress and lead you away from what you want to be doing. They can help you learn effective strategies for managing pain, such as pacing activities, meditation and flare-up planning.
Hospital pharmacy can tell you about how to take your medicines safely and make sure your pain medicines work with your other medicines.
Our Occupational Therapist is available to help you to be as independent as you can in your daily functional activities. They may suggest some strategies or aids to help facilitate your independence.
Our social worker is available to help you with practical social and emotional issues that you may experience. They can also provide you with information and education around what other community services are available.
We provide the following services:
Acute pain management
While you are in hospital, our team will help you deal with any pain related to your medical condition, trauma or surgery. Our team visits the wards each day and we are on-call 24 hours a day.
We use a range of medicines to try to relieve pain. Some of them you receive through an infusion. Sometimes you can manage this medicine yourself through a special machine. Other medicines we use include tablets or injections which can help with pain.
Our outpatient clinic for persistent (chronic) pain
Some people experience long term ongoing pain. Our team can work with you to find out what might be causing your pain, how best to minimise it and how you can develop some strategies to cope better with this pain. Treatments include medicines and injections, electrical stimulation devices, exercise therapies, pain education, practicing meditation and relaxation techniques and reviewing your home, leisure and work environments. Some of these are offered to you individually. Others are offered on a group basis. They are generally undertaken in the outpatient setting but some treatments may require a brief stay in hospital.
Pain self-management programs
Our team offers pain management treatment programs in group and individual format to give you the knowledge and skills you need to manage your persistent pain, to improve your quality of life and to function as well as possible. Our pain specialist, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, and physiotherapist will assess whether these programs would be suitable for you.
Our programs include:
Pain Clinic Education -
75 minute sessions that are run twice per month and can be attended face to face at the hospital or via telehealth. They help you learn useful pain management strategies which can help you:
- Plan and pace your activities without making pain worse
- Get back to things you have stopped doing because of pain
- Become fitter and stronger
- Turn down the volume of your pain
- Use medications in the most helpful way
This might be all the help you need to better manage your persistent pain problem. We will also introduce our pain management programs. We will explain how you can work with our team of psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapist and nurses.
Brief Pain Management Program
Our Pain Management team offers a small group pain management program called ACTIVE. The best treatment for managing persistent pain is the use of active self-management strategies such as exercise, healthy living and meditation. The program runs for 3 hours per week for 6 weeks. You have the option of participating in the program by telehealth from your home, or face-to-face at the hospital.
ACTIVE Exercise Group
This is a physiotherapist-led exercise group for patients who have completed programs with our physiotherapists. It is a 1 hour session which incorporates whole body stretching and strengthening routine and brief mindfulness meditation. The sessions can be attended face to face in the hospital or via telehealth.
Mindfulness-based wellness program
This is facilitated by our nursing team – 1.5 hours per week for 8 weeks. This program runs face to face in hospital or via telehealth.
Cancer Pain Management
Our team will work with our Hospital's cancer and palliative care teams to help manage your pain from cancer.
Complex pain services
Our department is also a referral centre for patients requiring more complex pain assessment and management.
We provide advice and care for people living in regional and remote areas through our telehealth clinic. This means that we communicate with you through a video link on your computer screen. Once we have your referral we will contact you and discuss how this works.
You need a referral letter from your local general practitioner (GP) or specialist to make an appointment with our pain clinic. The referral letter should include your medical history, relevant scans or x-ray results and what medicines you are taking. It should be sent to the Department of Pain Management, Prince of Wales Hospital, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW 2031 or faxed to 9382 2870.
Once we have received your referral letter, we will send you questionnaires which you will need to complete and return to us. You can do these online if you include your email address in your referral. The questionnaires help us understand your pain and which team members you should meet in your appointment.
Clinic days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Appointment Reminders
If we have your mobile phone number in our system you will receive a text message reminding you of your appointment date and time 3 days before your appointment.
You can register with the Telstra HealthNOW mobile application (app) to receive appointment details and reminders on your mobile phone.
HealthNow allows us to send you mobile text messages about your appointments. HealthNow provides you with:
- Instant notification about appointment bookings
- Calendar reminders about appointments
- Google maps to help you get to the appointment safely
- Internal hospital maps to help you find the clinic
You may receive a text message from us asking you to download and register with HealthNow. This is not spam and it is safe to use.
If you need to change your appointment time or you decide you do not want to attend the Pain Clinic, please ring us on 9382 2863.
You may also be contacted by our allied health staff (e.g. physiotherapist, clinical psychologist, and occupational therapist) regarding specific appointments.
Waiting times
Depending on what pain you are experiencing, we will prioritise your appointment. For example, if you have severe pain from cancer or an acute form of pain, we will try to see you within two weeks.
In general, the waiting times can be up to three months or more but we will try to see you earlier if it is possible.
We have many requests for letters to support National Disability Scheme (NDIS) or Disability Support Pension (DSP) applications.
We will write comprehensive letters to your referring doctor. These letters can be used for your NDIS or DSP applications.
We will not write letters to NDIS or Centrelink.
Please bring:
- Your Medicare card or Veteran Affairs card.
- A list of your medicines including any herbal or over the counter medicines.
- Any recent x rays or medical images and their reports.
- Insurer details if you are claiming workers compensation, public liability or third party insurance.
In your first appointment, you may see either a pain specialist alone or a team of specialists including the doctor, clinical psychologist and physiotherapist. If we need to do further assessments, we will arrange another time to do this. We will work with you to develop a pain managment plan.
Make an appointment with your local family doctor to talk to them first. If your local doctor needs some advice they can contact us.
Websites on chronic pain
- Chronic Pain Australia www.chronicpainaustralia.org.au
- Australian Pain Management Association www.painmanagement.org.au
- Pain Australia www.painaustralia.org.au
- Mind Spot www.mindspot.org.au
- This way up www.thiswayup.org.au
Brainman brief educational videos:
- Understanding pain in less than 5 minutes, and what to do about it!
- Understanding Pain: Brainman stops his opioids
- Understanding Pain: Brainman chooses
Books on pain
Rewire your pain: an evidence based approach to reduce chronic pain. Davies S, Cooke N, Sutton J.
Explain Pain. Butler, D. S., & Moseley, G. L.
Manage your pain: practical and positive ways of adapting to chronic pain. Nicholas M, Molloy A, Tonkin L, Beeston L.
The Pain Book, finding hope when it hurts. Siddall P, McCabe C, Murray R.
Research
We are dedicated to learning more about what causes pain and more effective ways people can deal with pain. We are also interested in monitoring some of the medicines people use for their pain. We do this in partnership with other research teams and health services.
We may ask you if you would like to be part of our research. You have the right to say no. If you do so, this will not impact on the services we provide to you.
Training and Education
Prince of Wales Hospital is a public teaching hospital. Our department is actively involved in teaching medical students, doctors, nursing and other health care staff about how to best manage pain. We are also accredited with the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists to provide specialist training for doctors to specialise in the area of pain medicine. You may be asked to be involved in research or for a student to be present at your appointment. You have a right to say no. If you do so, this will no impact in any way on the services we will provide.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.
Pain Management Department
How we can help you
We help you manage your pain and its impact on your life. We focus on the medical, physical, social, psychological and environmental factors associated with pain.
We can help you develop a plan to:
- reduce how much pain you are feeling
- increase what you can do
- regain control of your life, and
- improve the quality of your life.
Managers
Director A/Prof K E Khor
Nurse Manager David Begley
Opening hours
Pain Clinic days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday.
How to find us
The Prince of Wales Hospital Pain Management Services (and Pain Clinic) are located at: Outpatients Department, Level 2, Campus Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital (Building 16 on our campus map)
Information about how to get to our Randwick campus
We are a team of health professionals, based in the Hospital, who will work with you to help you manage your pain.
Our doctors specialise in pain medicine, anaesthesia, geriatric medicine, addiction medicine, psychiatry and rehabilitation medicine. They will help you:
- Understand your pain and what may be causing it
- Reduce your pain using medicines and other treatments
- Maximise what you are able to do when you have pain
- Understand how your pain is affecting your physical and emotional health
- Use prescribed pain medicines safely
- Manage short term experiences of acute pain such as after having surgery.
Our nurses will assess your pain, give you education and pain treatments. Our nurses can help answer questions you have about treatments or medicines. Our nurses also will work with you in our pain programs, focusing on mindfulness and medicines.
Our physiotherapist will have time to explain what is happening when your body is in pain and how that can impact how you move and use your body. They can assess how you are moving and help you find more comfortable ways to move and use your body. They can help you get back to doing things that are important to you like exercise, work, or hobbies. They can work with you face to face in the hospital or via telehealth and within group pain management programs and exercise groups.
Our clinical psychologists will explore how you are coping with your pain and its impact on your life (mood, stress, sleep, family, work and leisure activities). They can help you manage unhelpful thoughts that cause distress and lead you away from what you want to be doing. They can help you learn effective strategies for managing pain, such as pacing activities, meditation and flare-up planning.
Hospital pharmacy can tell you about how to take your medicines safely and make sure your pain medicines work with your other medicines.
Our Occupational Therapist is available to help you to be as independent as you can in your daily functional activities. They may suggest some strategies or aids to help facilitate your independence.
Our social worker is available to help you with practical social and emotional issues that you may experience. They can also provide you with information and education around what other community services are available.
We provide the following services:
Acute pain management
While you are in hospital, our team will help you deal with any pain related to your medical condition, trauma or surgery. Our team visits the wards each day and we are on-call 24 hours a day.
We use a range of medicines to try to relieve pain. Some of them you receive through an infusion. Sometimes you can manage this medicine yourself through a special machine. Other medicines we use include tablets or injections which can help with pain.
Our outpatient clinic for persistent (chronic) pain
Some people experience long term ongoing pain. Our team can work with you to find out what might be causing your pain, how best to minimise it and how you can develop some strategies to cope better with this pain. Treatments include medicines and injections, electrical stimulation devices, exercise therapies, pain education, practicing meditation and relaxation techniques and reviewing your home, leisure and work environments. Some of these are offered to you individually. Others are offered on a group basis. They are generally undertaken in the outpatient setting but some treatments may require a brief stay in hospital.
Pain self-management programs
Our team offers pain management treatment programs in group and individual format to give you the knowledge and skills you need to manage your persistent pain, to improve your quality of life and to function as well as possible. Our pain specialist, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, and physiotherapist will assess whether these programs would be suitable for you.
Our programs include:
Pain Clinic Education -
75 minute sessions that are run twice per month and can be attended face to face at the hospital or via telehealth. They help you learn useful pain management strategies which can help you:
- Plan and pace your activities without making pain worse
- Get back to things you have stopped doing because of pain
- Become fitter and stronger
- Turn down the volume of your pain
- Use medications in the most helpful way
This might be all the help you need to better manage your persistent pain problem. We will also introduce our pain management programs. We will explain how you can work with our team of psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapist and nurses.
Brief Pain Management Program
Our Pain Management team offers a small group pain management program called ACTIVE. The best treatment for managing persistent pain is the use of active self-management strategies such as exercise, healthy living and meditation. The program runs for 3 hours per week for 6 weeks. You have the option of participating in the program by telehealth from your home, or face-to-face at the hospital.
ACTIVE Exercise Group
This is a physiotherapist-led exercise group for patients who have completed programs with our physiotherapists. It is a 1 hour session which incorporates whole body stretching and strengthening routine and brief mindfulness meditation. The sessions can be attended face to face in the hospital or via telehealth.
Mindfulness-based wellness program
This is facilitated by our nursing team – 1.5 hours per week for 8 weeks. This program runs face to face in hospital or via telehealth.
Cancer Pain Management
Our team will work with our Hospital's cancer and palliative care teams to help manage your pain from cancer.
Complex pain services
Our department is also a referral centre for patients requiring more complex pain assessment and management.
We provide advice and care for people living in regional and remote areas through our telehealth clinic. This means that we communicate with you through a video link on your computer screen. Once we have your referral we will contact you and discuss how this works.
You need a referral letter from your local general practitioner (GP) or specialist to make an appointment with our pain clinic. The referral letter should include your medical history, relevant scans or x-ray results and what medicines you are taking. It should be sent to the Department of Pain Management, Prince of Wales Hospital, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW 2031 or faxed to 9382 2870.
Once we have received your referral letter, we will send you questionnaires which you will need to complete and return to us. You can do these online if you include your email address in your referral. The questionnaires help us understand your pain and which team members you should meet in your appointment.
Clinic days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Appointment Reminders
If we have your mobile phone number in our system you will receive a text message reminding you of your appointment date and time 3 days before your appointment.
You can register with the Telstra HealthNOW mobile application (app) to receive appointment details and reminders on your mobile phone.
HealthNow allows us to send you mobile text messages about your appointments. HealthNow provides you with:
- Instant notification about appointment bookings
- Calendar reminders about appointments
- Google maps to help you get to the appointment safely
- Internal hospital maps to help you find the clinic
You may receive a text message from us asking you to download and register with HealthNow. This is not spam and it is safe to use.
If you need to change your appointment time or you decide you do not want to attend the Pain Clinic, please ring us on 9382 2863.
You may also be contacted by our allied health staff (e.g. physiotherapist, clinical psychologist, and occupational therapist) regarding specific appointments.
Waiting times
Depending on what pain you are experiencing, we will prioritise your appointment. For example, if you have severe pain from cancer or an acute form of pain, we will try to see you within two weeks.
In general, the waiting times can be up to three months or more but we will try to see you earlier if it is possible.
We have many requests for letters to support National Disability Scheme (NDIS) or Disability Support Pension (DSP) applications.
We will write comprehensive letters to your referring doctor. These letters can be used for your NDIS or DSP applications.
We will not write letters to NDIS or Centrelink.
Please bring:
- Your Medicare card or Veteran Affairs card.
- A list of your medicines including any herbal or over the counter medicines.
- Any recent x rays or medical images and their reports.
- Insurer details if you are claiming workers compensation, public liability or third party insurance.
In your first appointment, you may see either a pain specialist alone or a team of specialists including the doctor, clinical psychologist and physiotherapist. If we need to do further assessments, we will arrange another time to do this. We will work with you to develop a pain managment plan.
Make an appointment with your local family doctor to talk to them first. If your local doctor needs some advice they can contact us.
Websites on chronic pain
- Chronic Pain Australia www.chronicpainaustralia.org.au
- Australian Pain Management Association www.painmanagement.org.au
- Pain Australia www.painaustralia.org.au
- Mind Spot www.mindspot.org.au
- This way up www.thiswayup.org.au
Brainman brief educational videos:
- Understanding pain in less than 5 minutes, and what to do about it!
- Understanding Pain: Brainman stops his opioids
- Understanding Pain: Brainman chooses
Books on pain
Rewire your pain: an evidence based approach to reduce chronic pain. Davies S, Cooke N, Sutton J.
Explain Pain. Butler, D. S., & Moseley, G. L.
Manage your pain: practical and positive ways of adapting to chronic pain. Nicholas M, Molloy A, Tonkin L, Beeston L.
The Pain Book, finding hope when it hurts. Siddall P, McCabe C, Murray R.
Research
We are dedicated to learning more about what causes pain and more effective ways people can deal with pain. We are also interested in monitoring some of the medicines people use for their pain. We do this in partnership with other research teams and health services.
We may ask you if you would like to be part of our research. You have the right to say no. If you do so, this will not impact on the services we provide to you.
Training and Education
Prince of Wales Hospital is a public teaching hospital. Our department is actively involved in teaching medical students, doctors, nursing and other health care staff about how to best manage pain. We are also accredited with the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists to provide specialist training for doctors to specialise in the area of pain medicine. You may be asked to be involved in research or for a student to be present at your appointment. You have a right to say no. If you do so, this will no impact in any way on the services we will provide.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.