Hand held pain relief treatment

Patients at hospitals run by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust are the first NHS patients in the UK to be able to self administer a new pain relieving drug (Sufentanil) via a hand held device (Zalviso).

The Trust, which manages North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, Rochdale Infirmary and community services, is the first NHS Trust in the UK to use the pioneering technique. Using a hand held device eliminates the risks associated with traditional intravenous pain relief.

Since 13 June the Trust has been using one Zalviso device at The Royal Oldham Hospital as part of an evaluation process, where 40 patients will try out the device. Another Zalviso device will be introduced at North Manchester General Hospital soon for evaluation purposes.

Following the evaluation the Trust will share its findings and experiences throughout this process with other NHS Trusts.

The first NHS patient to use the device in the UK is local man Peter Fletcher, 81, who has used the device to ease post-operative pain following colorectal surgery.

Dr Bhaskar Saha, Clinical Director and Consultant in Anaesthetics at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are very excited to be the first NHS Trust in the UK to have used Sufentanil in a patient controlled analgesia (PCA), known as Zalviso. It is a novel technique that is currently used in Europe and we are proud to be the pioneers in this country. This technique is non-invasive and the analgesia provided does not require intravenous access thus reducing patient risks.

“A lot of hard work has been done in providing training, information and having a robust governance strategy in order to introduce this into our hospitals and we expect our patients to benefit from this technique.”