Dr Philippa Armstrong

I currently work as the Clinical Lead for pain services for York and Scarborough NHS Hospitals Trust and have been doing so for the past 4 years.

I was appointed to York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in 2011 and have had a busy NHS consultant practice in both anaesthetics and pain since that time which includes full participation in weekly clinics, theatre lists and the on-call rota.

 I have had an active private anaesthetic practice as part of the York Anaesthetists Group since my appointment in York. In 2020, I took over from my colleague Dr Peter Hall in providing private pain services through this group.

In this role, I provide advice and management for patients with wide-ranging pain presentations including acute spinal and musculoskeletal pain; neuropathic pain; pelvic pain, cancer-related pain and complex regional pain syndrome.

I can order and interpret MRIs, liaise with therapists and surgeons, offer spinal and other injections to aid rehabilitation including radiofrequency ablation and I implant spinal cord stimulators and intrathecal catheters when appropriate.

I trained as an undergraduate in Dundee Scotland and as a postgraduate in Edinburgh and Oxford.

I undertook my subspecialty pain training at Oxford and Bart’s Hospital London.

I have been a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management since 2006. I have held Consultant posts at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire, Dr Gray’s Hospital Elgin Morayshire and have been in York since 2011.

I set up the pain clinic in Elgin and was involved in providing anaesthetic and local pain services to the remote and rural population of the North East of Scotland including the Orkney Islands.

I have been the Clinical Lead for York Teaching Hospitals NHS trust pain services since 2017.

I undertake all forms of anaesthesia including ultrasound-guided regional blocks.

As Clinical Lead, I strategically manage pain services across the trust and their integration with community services. I am responsible for leading a full multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists. We assess and treat patients with wide-ranging presentations including acute back pain, neuropathic, pelvic, cancer-related pain and complex regional pain syndrome. 

I offer advice on management, order and interpret MRIs, liaise with therapists and surgeons, offer steroid injections to aid rehabilitation and implant spinal cord stimulators and intrathecal catheters when appropriate.