New Kiwi Dean For Australasian Faculty Of Pain Medicine Champions Equity For Chronic Pain Sufferers

The new head of the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) believes New Zealand’s health reforms can help provide a more equitable service for the one in five Kiwis who suffer from chronic pain.

Dr Kieran Davis from Auckland is the new dean of the faculty that trains and educates specialist pain medicine physicians both here and in Australia. He says FPM has been working hard with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to design a model of pain care unique to our country.

Dr Davis, who works as a pain medicine physician and anaesthetist out of Auckland City Hospital, sees the results of a comprehensive clinic that provides multiple specialists to offer a wrap-around service for chronic pain sufferers. Those are services offered at the Auckland Regional Pain Service, but this type of clinic is only available to a limited number of people in the country.

“Chronic pain is a great example of the so-called “postcode lottery” as very few New Zealanders have a multi-disciplinary clinic available,” says Dr Davis. “However,” he says, “the right treatment can be the difference between someone getting on with their life after injury or illness, to that person losing their job, their friends and family and sometimes their lives to the persistent pain.”

“That is why the Faculty of Pain Medicine has worked with the Ministry and other leading specialists to develop a hub and spoke model. The model of care framework was designed by examining present services, looking at international models, ensuring workforce can be sustainable, and working on flexibility so we can meet the changing needs of the population,” says the new FPM Dean, Dr Davis.

Following the last two years of the pandemic, Dr Davis says it is more important than ever that we ensure that patients in Australia and New Zealand have equitable access to pain treatment.