10 years ago, it seemed that no one had noticed the pain epidemic going on around us. In Australia the figures of those suffering pain and without access to appropriate specialist treatment were astounding. One in five Australians - yes, 20% of us – suffered chronic pain at some point in our lives, including children and adolescents. Figures showed that 3.2 million Australians were living with chronic pain. What’s even more alarming is that up to 80% of those with chronic pain missed out on treatment that could have improved their health and quality of life. Back then, Chronic Pain cost the Australian economy an estimated $73 billion per year.

There is no end to the daily hardships encountered by people with chronic pain: the challenges of sceptical friends, family, employers, doctors with little or no training in the diagnosis or management of chronic pain, and long public-hospital waiting lists of up to a year to see a pain specialist, all compounding the burden of the pain itself. The profound effects of chronic pain on quality of life and the shortcomings of existing treatment were obvious.  At that time there were no clinics offering a truly holistic approach to managing pain and focusing completely on the patient.

Something needed to be done about this. Our community needed help.

We opened a pain clinic. Our practice was built by specialists and colleagues with shared ideals and values, morals and ethics who were uniquely keen to support each other by sharing knowledge, expertise and experience. There was a common duty of care and dedication to reducing pain and suffering, with an unwavering focus on the person in pain and their family.

Our goal was to never forget that the problem was not just a pain condition, but a real person in pain, with a real life beyond pain that they longed to return to. We felt perfectly placed to do something significant for sufferers of chronic pain.

The Victoria Pain Specialists pain relief and pain care clinic was founded with a simple aim: Excellence in Personalised Pain Management. The care provided would be holistic, multidisciplinary and complete, utilising cutting-edge pain-intervention technology, and drawing from extensive anaesthetic and pain-specialist experience.

We began at Epworth Hospital with two days per week and one patient at a time. Any spare time was devoted to the development of our world-class medical practice. From the first two patients seen on day one, the clinic grew. About two months after launch, our young practice was approached by a few other pain clinics in Melbourne with the proposal of joining forces. We politely declined their offers; our values did not meet with theirs.

Our approach back then (as it is today) was holistic and multidisciplinary, with a focus on the patient and not just the pain condition. It was clear that the internet had seen patients become increasingly better informed about their conditions and rightly more demanding of their doctors, especially when it came to fast and effective treatment. A multidisciplinary approach was and remains the cornerstone of pain management. Patients would be given the best treatment options available and, more importantly, the time and resources to make their own informed decisions.

We took the approach of 'the right treatment, for each person, at the right time'. To this day, we have treated more than 12,000 people in pain, never forgetting this foundation guideline.

"Treating pain is not like having your appendix removed, where a surgeon takes it out and it’s done. Pain is impossible to see, hard to measure and sometimes hard to treat. It needs expertise on many levels."

From day one it was important to listen to patients. People often come to the practice angry, frustrated, and fed up with their pain, sometimes even sceptical about treatment. Many have lived with pain for way too long, and many have already failed some sort of treatment. The focus was and is still to provide patients with an individualised treatment plan, supported by a multidisciplinary team, and to work closely with the patient to tackle their pain. This offers the patient the very best care available.

For any individualised care, it is absolutely essential that the patient is given the time they require to be heard.

Our principles of patient-centred care continued to foster growth, encompassing both the requirements of a professional clinic and the growing needs of patients. Early on, it was unclear whether the practice would grow. But clearly we were doing something right because the clinic grew quickly and continues to do so to this day. 

Meanwhile the practice was approached by a team of experienced pain specialists with various levels of experience with the aim of growing as pain experts.  They held the same values, ideas and ethics as our founders.

In mid-2014 it was clear that the consulting rooms in East Melbourne were too small.

In 2014 the practice moved to 27 Erin St, Richmond, allowing the team to come together and really focus on the patients. The space could be tailored to the needs of both the team and the patients.

Patients were happier with the move, and the location facilitated additional support with the Epworth’s Hospitals, whose many specialists were working alongside the Pain Specialists Australia team.

Demand for expert pain services continued to grow. A pain nurse joined the practice and the role proved to be invaluable in curating clinical pathways and supporting each and every patient. Patients love the time and support a pain nurse provides.  

Like-minded experts continued to join our practice. The first occupational therapist joined in 2014, followed closely by physiotherapists and psychologists in 2015. Since then, a young and dynamic team of dedicated and sympathetic professionals have joined the practice, with the common aim of getting patients functioning again and helping them to reach goals they thought weren’t achievable.

Of course, our practice has always been supported by a team of highly capable administration staff, who work tirelessly to support patients and the growing clinical team. They work behind the scenes on special projects to continue driving the practice from strength to strength.  

We needed to grow and change so we could do more and help more people. This was the perfect time to become Pain Specialists Australia. We had struck the winning combination of Matt Margach’s business acumen and healthcare know-how, and the clinicians’ clinical expertise, patient experience and desire to share knowledge with others treating pain. We would be able to help more people in pain and effect greater change.

We are driven.

As a medical practice and as a group of experts who manage pain, we step out of our comfort zones. We embrace change. 

We maintain that we must always be guided by the people we treat. We continue to listen to our patients, their families and our referrers, and we constantly strive to improve. 

 We now treat people from every corner of our vast and beautiful country. People are eager to get specialist help to manage their pain. They are prepared to drive great distances, fly interstate and even leave their families behind for extended periods of time, just so they can get some respite from their pain. We now see international patients too, some coming to base themselves in Melbourne for up to a month at a time for our pain care.

The most staggering sign of all, is that so many of the people we treat have been suffering from pain for many years and are only now seeing a pain specialist for the first time. We often hear our patients tell us that we are the first team to listen to them and even to examine them in their long pain journeys.

WHAT WE DO

We use world-class multimodal, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and interventional pain management strategies and techniques to manage pain, and restore health and vitality. We employ non-opioid strategies and help patients control, wean and even cease their opioids.

WHY WE DO IT

We believe no one should suffer from pain and from this we aim to rid the world of pain by changing the way the world understands, thinks about and treats pain.

HOW WE DO IT

We make pain care the centre of our world, because we know that pain is the centre of our patients’ and their families’ worlds.

It’s #ourpainworld

We show you that pain is real, and you need not suffer alone. We are here for you and your family.

We show people how to get relief from pain and we help people to be themselves again.

OUR PROMISE

We promise to show people that their pain is real and that they need not suffer alone. We are here for them. We show people how to get relief from pain and be themselves again.

Our approach is for people who believe they can control their pain. We focus on people who want to be themselves again. We have found that we are only able to help those that seek real change for their pain and their lives. #ChangePain

Our Pain Specialists Australia family live and breathe it. It needs to be in our DNA. Our ethos, DNA and pain care are now infused in each and every task that our team does for our patients, for their families, for our referrers and for our extended healthcare community.

We solve pain problems, small and big.

The respect, empathy and work we do for each of our patients and their families extends to each of us in our Pain Specialists Australia family.

Our constitution and mission statement extend to our first satellite at Warringal Private. More clinic sites will follow, with the invaluable support of Ramsay Health care.

Each and every new member of our Pain Specialists Australia family undergoes a rigorous screening process, whether you are a pain specialist in training, a senior pain specialist, a member of the allied health team, administration team or one of the med-tech companies we partner with.

We look for belief, drive, discretionary effort, respect and empathy. Each and every one of the people in our family are leaders and problem-solvers.

If you think you have what it takes – if you are exceptional – get in touch.

OUR PRINCIPLES

• We cultivate a culture of belonging, commitment, inclusivity and diverse perspectives and shared purpose

• We strive for excellence in everything that we do

• We practice empathy and compassion for ourselves and others

• We are focused on learning and getting it right

• We provide clarity, kindness and hope for our patients

• We know each person’s values and contribution to our cause

• We support play, rest and recovery

• We talk straight and take action

• We promote leadership and career progression

We do this using advanced, tailored and cutting edge medical care delivered in a compassionate manner. We approach pain management from multiple avenues simultaneously and using a team of experts each with their own areas of expertise working together as a unit when required.

We understand that effective pain management is a unique process and can sometimes be a long journey for some people and their families.

We aim to provide care good enough for our own family and friends.

As a team we strive for excellence. We are proactive and each take responsibility for our actions. We have open lines of communication and importantly, we enjoy working with each other and love the work that we do. We continue to grow stronger and more effective as a team.

We recognise that pain affects your ability to do the things that make you who you are. We want to offer you the best possible treatment outcomes with a supportive team who are there to help you through every stage. That has and always will be the main focus of Pain Specialists Australia (formerly Victoria Pain Specialists).