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Pain Management - meet the team 

The main aim of our team is to help you live a meaningful, fulfilling life. We want to help you to do more of what you want to do.

To do this, our Pain Management Clinic includes a range of clinicians from different professions to help you develop skills to respond to pain, and the distress that often accompanies it, in new ways.

We try to help you to 'drop the struggle' with pain, rather than reducing or curing pain.

Meet the team below who want to help you make lifelong changes.

Consultants

Dr Lorraine de Gray

Consultant in Anaesthesia & Pain Management

MD LLM FFPMRCA

I am a Consultant Anaesthetist, practising full time in pain medicine. Prior to moving to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, I was a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain medicine at the Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk. I set up the multidisciplinary pain service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2007 and subsequently led the multidisciplinary pain service from 2007 to 2019.

I especially enjoy the educational side of pain medicine and am a firm believer in helping my patients understand why they have pain. I believe that this is an essential ingredient in helping patients to take control back of their lives and to live a fulfilled life despite their pain.

I have for many years also been involved in training doctors in the UK to become pain specialists and am currently the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Pain medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

I'm married to a local surgeon, with three grown up children, I love reading, cooking and cycling down winding country lanes on my trike.

Dr Bharti Seth

Consultant in Anaesthesia & Pain Management

MD, FFPMRCA

I started out as a Consultant Anaesthetist with a special interest in pain management and now practise Pain management full time. I joined The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2015 after working for 11 years at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon.

I feel privileged to be a part of a team that endeavours to make a difference in the lives of many patients who suffer from the impact of pain on their everyday lives. Finding back the mind-body balance that pain disturbs is what fascinates me most about management of persistent pain.

The strong friendships in the pain team and a shared passion for helping our patients retrieve the quality of their lives’ make it an absolute honour to lead the service.

I am a professional doctor and an amateur cartoonist, singer, traveller, avid foodie.

Specialist Nurses

Christine Hedges

I am one the Specialist nurses for the inpatient Pain service. I have 38 years’ experience as a Registered General Nurse. For 20 years I worked within the peri-operative setting and during this time enjoyed the privilege of recovering patients from anaesthetic.

I use this valuable experience in my current role as a Pain Management Specialist Nurse and will review inpatients routinely and also on the request of fellow hospital practitioners. I have worked closely with colleagues in the Pain services department and anaesthesia for the past 10 years, assisting in the delivery of safe, effective analgesia and advice.

I have a Bachelor Science Degree in Nursing Practice and I am an Independent Medical prescriber.

I am married with 2 adult daughters; enjoy music, singing (soprano), yoga, crafts and travel.

Occupational Therapists

Wendy Hill, Specialist Occupational Therapist

I have been working as an Occupational Therapist since 1991. During that time I have worked in both physical and mental health settings. I started working at the Pain clinic in 2009 and I have to say it is the best job ever! If you are living with constant pain you will know that it affects every part of your life. I believe Occupational Therapy plays a vital role in enabling people to achieve as much as they can despite their pain and/or fatigue. I have a particular interest in helping people with fibromyalgia, and started a specific group programme for them which has been developed over the years.

Michelle Macartney, Specialist Occupational Therapist

Since qualifying as an Occupational Therapist in 1992, I have worked in a variety of health and social care settings, including older people’s mental health services and Social Services. I joined the pain clinic at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2014. Prior to this I spent 5 years working in Pain Managements Services in Essex.

As an Occupational Therapist, I am interested in how people’s health can affect their ability to do the important things in their lives. Since working with people who have persistent pain, I have learnt how pain can disrupt a person’s life in many different ways. I see my role as working alongside people with persistent pain, to find ways of enabling them to do the activities that are important to them.

Activities that are important to me include socialising with family and friends, gardening and looking after my pet dog, cat and chickens.

Physiotherapists

Judith Semmons, Specialist Physiotherapist MSc MCSP

I am the Lead Physiotherapist within the Pain Management Clinic. I became interested in chronic pain whilst working in a burns, plastic surgery and hand therapy department, particularly the management of complex regional pain syndrome. In addition we have a family member who lives with chronic pain. In 2001, I completed a masters’ degree in pain management to promote my understanding of patients living with chronic pain.

Having later moved to Norfolk to enjoy the beautiful countryside and coastlines, I joined the Pain Clinic at the QEH in 2011 and value the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to help patients; to empower them to use strategies to assist their own management of their pain.

During the early stages of the covid pandemic, I completed a virtual Tai Chi course. I have used aspects from this as a form of gentle exercise for patients living with chronic pain.

Susanne Riffelmacher, Specialist Physiotherapist, MCSP

I qualified and worked in Germany as a physiotherapist in 2007 and became a fully accredited member of the CSP in 2014 after moving to the UK.

Since then I worked for private Clinics as a musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and taught Pilates classes in St Albans until starting to work at the Pain Clinic at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2017. My trainings include Manual lymphatic drainage, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Pilates.

Working in the Pain Clinic over the last 3 years I try my best to motivate Patients to engage with the bio-psycho social model of pain management and to learn to control the persistent pain and live a fulfilled and meaningful life despite the pain.

In my free time we love walking along the beautiful beaches of the Norfolk coast with my Labrador as well as enjoying the food in our local pubs.

Gillian Marheineke, Senior Physiotherapist, MCSP

I qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist in 1981 from the West Middlesex University Hospital. I started working in West London and then moved to Canada and the USA for 10 years.

My particular areas of interest are:

  • Musculoskeletal problems
  • Sports injuries
  • Pain management

I moved from BMI Sandringham Hospital to work in the Pain Management Team in June 2021.

Harriet Price Specialist Physiotherapist BSc MCSP

I am a chartered physiotherapist with a special interest in pain and paediatric chronic pain. I have worked at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital since 2018, having qualified in 2014. I enjoy gardening and yoga in my free-time. If you are living with persistent pain, know that there is hope. Through trial and error, perseverance and compassion we can work together to help you live well and move better with pain.

Psychologists

Dr Louise Sparrow, Principal Clinical Psychologist and Lead Psychologist for Chronic Pain, BSc, PGDip, DClinPsyc

I am the Lead Psychologist working within the Pain Clinic. I have a specialist interest in working with people living with Fibromyalgia and also work with a range of different physical health conditions across the Trust.

As a Pain Clinic we think it’s important to have Clinical Psychologists like me as part of the team because we recognise that when you live with persistent pain, there is an understandable impact on how you think, feel and behave. It is normal to have an emotional reaction to the changes that have happened in your life as a result of living with persistent pain.

I grew up in Norfolk and although I have moved around the country to study, I was so pleased to come back to Norfolk as a qualified Clinical Psychologist to work with the Pain Clinic at QEH. I have been part of the clinic since 2013 and feel very lucky to be part of such a considerate and hardworking team.

Dr Samantha Williams, Principal Counselling Psychologist, BSc (Hons), DCPsych

I am a Counselling Psychologist working within the Pain Clinic. I understand from working with people who live with persistent pain and fatigue the challenges and struggles they face every day. People often describe feeling overwhelmed both physically and emotionally, alone and unable to do what they used to do.

I believe an important part of my role as a psychologist is support people to adjust emotionally to these changes so that they can begin to find ways to move forward with their lives again despite pain.

Pain is a complex experience and I believe one of the real benefits of working as a team is bringing together the expertise and skills of different professionals who are committed to helping people manage their pain. I have been working within the Pain Clinic since 2015 and I enjoy working with such a dedicated and compassionate team.

I grew up in Norfolk and continue to appreciate the benefits of living in such a beautiful part of the country.

Dr Amy Fox, Principal Clinical Psychologist, BSc (Hons), PGDip, DClinPsy

I am one of the Clinical Psychologists working within the Pain Clinic at QEH. I also work within cancer services at QEH.

I live with persistent pain and fatigue myself, and I feel passionate about supporting others in their journey to adjust to living with pain. It can be difficult to cope emotionally with pain, and it can be hard to feel that life has changed and that you may have lost some abilities, some roles or even some parts of your identity. I find it so rewarding to work with these issues, and support others to develop a life they value and enjoy alongside their pain.

I grew up in Norfolk and moved around the country to study, but beautiful Norfolk drew me home. I have been part of the Pain Clinic at QEH since 2018 and enjoy working into this skilled and compassionate team.

Dr Kate Roberts, Principal Clinical Psychologist, BSc, DClinPsy

I am one of the Clinical Psychologists working within the Pain Clinic, having joined the team in 2019. Living with persistent pain can impact people’s lives in many different ways, and it is understandable that this can affect how you feel. As a psychologist, a big part of my role is supporting people to live a fulfilling life alongside pain. Everyone has different life experiences before pain, and no two people’s pain is quite alike. I value hearing peoples stories and working alongside them to consider how to improve their quality of life.

A real benefit to the Pain Clinic is being able to work closely with my colleagues from different professional backgrounds. We enjoy working together using our different skills to coordinate an overall plan for pain management.

Dr Vicky Silk, Clinical Psychologist , BSc (Hons), PGDip, DClinPsy

I am one of the Clinical Psychologists working within the Pain Clinic. During my training, I completed one of my placements with the team, so I feel very lucky to have returned as a qualified Clinical Psychologist.

I am passionate about supporting people with persistent pain and fatigue since it can be difficult to adjust to, affect your mood, and impact many different areas of your life, such as your ability to do the activities that are important to you. Part of my role is to help support people to live a fulfilling life alongside their pain.

Within my role, I enjoy working alongside my colleagues in the pain clinic and being part of such an experienced and compassionate team.