In all children, whatever their age, maturity or severity of illness, pain should be anticipated and controlled, safely and effectively.

Our goal is to deliver the best possible pain management for children at all stages of their care.

• the postoperative period
• the chronic phase
• the end stages of a child's life

Many children will experience all three types of pain during their lifespan.

Establishing a relationship throughout their care can be very helpful to a family when a child needs palliative pain and symptom control.

The service provides expert pain control for children with chronic pain and is one of the few multidisciplinary chronic pain services for children in the UK.

The origins, assessment and treatment of chronic pain are complex and children often find it difficult to describe their pain.

We use a variety of methods of pain assessment and management to meet this challenge.

An in-patient pain management programme provides family-centred, holistic care.

The service works closely with other staff from all healthcare settings.