VIP -The Future of Pain Services in the UK: A Conversation with Dr. Helen Makins

Send us Fan MailMy guest today is Dr Helen Makins, a Consultant in Pain Medicine at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK and someone whose career has taken her across clinical practice, education, commissioning, global health and now national leadership.Helen is currently the National Clinical Lead for the Chronic Pain Programme at GIRFT – Getting It Right First Time, a major NHS initiative focused on improving clinical outcomes, reducing variation and redesigning services across the country.But what makes Helen particularly interesting is the breadth of her work — from teaching pain education internationally with Mercy Ships, to developing innovative social prescribing programmes for young people with pain, to exploring the links between neurodiversity, childhood experiences and chronic pain.She has also worked closely with the Faculty of Pain Medicine, championing better communication skills, clinician wellbeing and the integration of biopsychosocial approaches into training.So today we’re going to explore:• how someone ends up leading national pain transformation work• what GIRFT might mean for the future of pain services• why communication and de-medicalisation matter so much in pain consultations• and how we might better support both patients and clinicians in this space.keywordsPain management, NHS, chronic pain, social prescribing, communication skills, lifestyle medicine, neurodiversity, healthcare commissioning, GIRFT, patient-centered carekey topicsEvolution of NHS pain servicesImportance of communication skills in pain managementRole of social prescribing and lifestyle medicineImpact of neurodiversity on chronic painGIRFT program and healthcare commissioning resourcesGIRFT website - https://www.england.nhs.uk/girft/Stephen Rolnick's Motivational Interviewing Course - https://www.motivationalinterviewing.org/Essential Pain Management Program - https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/faculty-of-pain-medicine/education/essential-pain-managementHelen Makins' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenmakins/Disclaimer:This podcast is for education and general information only and does not replace personalised medical advice. If you are experiencing ongoing pain or distress, please consult your healthcare professional. Please provide a feedback and comments on the podcast and any questions that you may have.If you enjoyed it please rate and leave a review on Spotify/Apple podcasts and tell a friend about this show.The Pain Speak podcast is presented by Prof Deepak Ravindran, a NHS Consultant specialising in Pain and Lifestyle Medicine. Dr Ravindran is also the author of the book, 'The Pain Free Mindset' Get in touch:Twitter: @deepakravindra5Instagram: drdeepakravindranWebsite: www.deepakravindran.co.ukLinktree: https://linktr.ee/DrDeepakRavindranYoutube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@drdeepakravindran5361For Clinical Queries and consultations, please go to Berkshire Pain ClinicOrder a copy of the Pain Free Mindset hereFor Season 1 and 3: Mixed and edited by Rob Cao at...