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"Didn't feel prepared"

About: Belfast City Hospital / Chronic Pain Services

(as a service user),

I attended the 'Pain Retrained' course. We were given no information before starting the course. I felt I should have got something to prepare me for what I was walking in to. 

At the start of the course, I received a letter that told me I had to attend the course. In an information leaflet I received, there was a section explaining what would happen if I didn't attend. It felt draconian and as if I was being spoken to like a child. This put me in the mood of resistance, because of the language used. Because of this, I would have missed a lot of the first day and could have missed some of the very valid points that were made. This wasn't a good way to start the course. 

Surely there may be a different way of explaining the consequences of not attending the course. 

At the end of the course, we were given a questionnaire that took a lot of time to complete. Having a brain injury, it wasn't possible to answer questions 10-13, and there was no one to help, so I put average answers. I am colour blind and people insist on using red and green. If you got an answer wrong it came up as red, which I couldn't see, which means I couldn't advance through the questionnaire easily. 

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Responses

Response from Barbara Buchanan, Assistant Service Manager, Persistent Pain Service/ ACCTSS, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust 3 days ago
Barbara Buchanan
Assistant Service Manager, Persistent Pain Service/ ACCTSS,
Belfast Health & Social Care Trust
Submitted on 27/10/2025 at 10:23
Published on Care Opinion at 10:23


picture of Barbara Buchanan

Dear Rustp89,

Thank you for your feedback regarding the information provided prior to attending the course. I am sorry to hear that you felt the pre course information did not prepare you adequately for what to expect. This certainly is not the experience we would wish for our service users.

Your comments are very helpful, and I appreciate you taking the time to share them. We will review the materials and communication provided before the next course to ensure that future participants receive clearer and more comprehensive information.

Thank you also for letting us know about the difficulties you have experienced in answering some of the questions. Please be assured that our staff are very happy to assist you with any aspect you find difficult.

Your comfort and understanding are important to us, and we want to make sure you feel fully supported throughout the course. If there is anything specific that would make things easier please contact us on 02895 041 261.

Thanks

Barbara

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