Secondary Prevention of Chronic Pain in Eastern Melbourne

Back to Our thinking

The issue

A recent report from the Australia Prevention Partnership Centre concluded that opportunities to prevent subacute pain from transitioning to chronic pain are sometimes missed in the primary care setting.

Why Early Intervention Matters in Chronic Pain

Preventing acute or subacute pain from developing into chronic pain requires timely identification of risk factors and appropriate support. Early intervention in primary care can help patients understand their recovery options, navigate referral pathways, and access appropriate pain management before difficulties become more persistent.

What’s happening in Eastern Melbourne?

Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (EMPHN) is undertaking a mapping of pain recovery services in the primary care domain in its catchment, to inform recommendations for future work in this area.

EMPHN wants to understand service entry points, failure points, and service gaps for consumers at risk of progressing to chronic pain post-surgery, post-trauma or post-diagnosis of pain-related conditions.

This includes, for example, feedback on navigating the primary health system, medication management for pain, awareness of services and referral pathways, as well as ability to seek local support. 

Identifying Gaps in Chronic Pain Services

Understanding where patients experience difficulties accessing care can help health organisations identify opportunities to improve service pathways. Mapping chronic pain services can highlight gaps in availability, referral processes, medication management, multidisciplinary support, and local resources, providing useful evidence for future health service planning.

Using Consumer and Clinician Insights

The experiences of patients, GPs, nurses, and pain clinicians provide important evidence about how chronic pain is managed across the healthcare system. Combining these perspectives can help identify practical opportunities to strengthen referral pathways, service access, and continuity of care for people recovering from acute pain.

Seeking your insights and recommendations

Larter Consulting has been engaged to undertake a consultation to identify experiences and perceptions of the patient recovery journey during the 6-12 weeks post an acute pain event.

We want to hear from:

  • consumers and patients (for example, after surgery, injury, back pain)
  • GPs and nurses
  • pain clinicians including multidisciplinary pain recovery services.

We invite you to share your insights (what works, what is not working) and recommendations for improvement to inform next steps for EMPHN.

You can:

Contact Jo Grzelinska on jo@larter.com.au or call / SMS 0418 595 781 to arrange a time convenient for you.

Timelines: The consultation is open 1 February – 18 March 2021.

Project contacts

EMPHN lead

Susan Rice, Lead Sector Capacity & After Hours, 0419 475 855, susan.rice@emphn.org.au

Lead consultant

Jo Grzelinska, Principal Consultant, 0418 595 781, jo@larter.com.au 

This initiative is funded by the Australian Government under the PHN program.

secondary prevention of chronic pain. Rapid review and mapping of options for Primary Health Networks. The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (Sax Institute), October 2019.

Conclusion

secondary prevention of chronic pain requires attention to the early stages of recovery, when timely support and coordinated care may help reduce the risk of persistent pain. The Eastern Melbourne consultation highlighted the importance of understanding patient experiences, identifying gaps in existing services, and bringing consumer and clinician perspectives into health service planning. These insights demonstrate how evidence, consultation, and evaluation can help strengthen primary care pathways and support more responsive approaches to chronic pain prevention.

Frequently Asked Questions

GPs and nurses can play an important role in recognising patients who may be at risk of persistent pain, supporting early management, coordinating care, and connecting patients with appropriate services when additional support is required.

The weeks following an acute pain event can provide an opportunity to identify barriers to recovery, provide appropriate support, and connect patients with suitable healthcare services before pain becomes more difficult to manage.

Service mapping can identify where patients enter the healthcare system, where referral pathways may break down, which services are available locally, and where gaps may affect access to appropriate pain support.

Patients can provide firsthand insights into accessing care, navigating referrals, managing pain, and interacting with healthcare providers. These experiences can reveal barriers that may not be evident from service data alone.

GPs and nurses can play an important role in recognising patients who may be at risk of persistent pain, supporting early management, coordinating care, and connecting patients with appropriate services when additional support is required.

Multidisciplinary services can bring together different areas of expertise to address the physical, functional, psychological, and social factors that may influence recovery from pain.