What is the service?
A new fully funded service has been established to assist practices to identify patients that have painful diabetic neuropathy who may benefit from spinal cord stimulation.
The service includes the provision of a Diabetes Specialist Pharmacist to conduct remote clinical reviews with patients to identify those who would be appropriate for referral to the specialist centre for a full assessment of suitability.
The service is of no cost to your practice(s) and is fully funded by Nevro to enhance patient care and benefit the NHS.
Further information on the service available to your practice is available here.
Endorsement from secondary care
The local services at St Georges and Barts have capacity to assess and treat appropriate patients enabling a shorter, sharper route to a centrally funded specialist treatment.
Often these patients are very high intensity users and are often refractory to commonly prescribed treatments, including opioids and gabapentinoids.
See endorsement letters from Barts.
What is spinal cord stimulation (SCS)?
SCS is a safe and effective option in the treatment of patients in this subgroup of diabetes.
SCS includes a small, implanted device - similar to a pacemaker - that transmits mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord.
The pulses calm the nerves and reduce pain signals to the brain. SCS is a way of managing patient’s pain and has a growing body of clinical evidence that demonstrates a reduction in opioid usage.