Acute pain services in New Zealand hospitals; a survey

To describe the services available for the treatment of acute pain in surgical hospitals in New Zealand.

A survey of all surgical hospitals in New Zealand was undertaken in 1994 by postal questionnaire, followed up by telephone when necessary for completeness or clarification. A subset of these hospitals was resurveyed in 1996.

Completed questionnaires were obtained from 62 surgical hospitals (78% of the 79 surveyed). Of these, 38 operated within 23 publicly funded crown health enterprises (CHEs), the remainder being privately funded institutions. A formal pain service, with designated medical and/or nursing time, was in operation in only 12 hospitals, all of which were larger institutions (150 beds or more) within CHEs. Informal pain services were in operation in 28 additional hospitals, including 8 of 24 private hospitals. Most hospitals employed a wide range of analgesic modalities, although epidural infusions and nerve block infusions were used in a greater proportion of hospitals with a formal acute pain service. By 1996 the number of hospitals with nursing and/or medical positions designated for acute pain management had increased.

Most New Zealand surgical hospitals use a wide range of modern analgesic modalities and an increasing number are providing formal acute pain services with designated medical and/or nursing time.