Capital Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic: 20 years serving the ACT and southeast NSW!
Dr Geoff Speldewinde
This year is the 20th Anniversary of The Capital Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic in serving the Canberra community. Geoff Speldewinde and his team kindly hosted our AGM and Parliamentary Friends Meeting at his clinic.
After 20 years working in the pain space, we asked Geoff to share his thoughts about what was, is and will be in this important healthcare area.
Capital Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic: 20 years serving the act and southeast NSW!
By Geoff Speldewinde, Owner of Capital Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic
Our evolution and progression through many phases and fads of the assessment and management of pain in this time mirrors the changes that have swept over the pain field through that time.
Directed by myself as a Rehabilitation Physician, with Sports and Occupational Physicians contributing ‘medical’ diagnoses and pain interventions the focus has always been on optimising function recognising the person’s broader experience of their pain, guided by that parable of the ‘6 blind men and the elephant’. Physical therapy has emphasised function where exercise therapists are central, supported by physiotherapists; psychologists and counsellors operate their individual variations of pain education whilst delivering on mood, anxiety and PTSD management.
These ‘core’ components are supported by soft-tissue therapies, acupuncture and low-level laser therapy, and mindfulness meditation courses, to achieve the common goal of optimised function through improved pain coping and of course pain reduction.
In order to serve that goal the clinic, has been purpose-built to accommodate the needs of the various disciplines working alongside each other withthe Meeting Room central for case conferences as an integral part of planning and guiding a patient’s rehabilitation are also available. interventional suites for seamless and integrated fluoroscopic and ultrasound-guided procedures.
To continue to provide state-of-the-art services to our clients, staff provide CBT programs often in group format, (funding difficulties may suggest the limited value of those in the real world) and have incorporated the understanding and use of neuroplasticity-based pain management. They also explore virtual reality as a pain relief tool and direct the informed patient and their supports to their best ‘self-management’.
This Clinic has provided numerous contributions to the science and practice of pain and its management. We have self-funded our own contributions to the literature with 5 peer-reviewed publications based on our work, and been heavily involved in contributing to professional and community organisations over these 20 years.
In summary, Capital Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic has evolved with the progress of the science. We continue to provide a combined and co-ordinated pain rehabilitation model of care. The multiple disciplines under one roof in a purpose-built facility, including on-site and seamless fluoroscopic and ultrasound-guided procedures, strive to deliver outcomes for which our patients, the consumers keep coming back. They consistently value the options available from a team with a unified theme.
The existence and viability of clinics such as this demonstrates how the National Action Plan for Pain Management can steadily work towards its 8 goals!