Consultant Profile

Dr Neil Collighan MBChB FRCA FFPMRCA MBChB FRCA FFPMRCA

Dr Neil Collighan is an expert Consultant in Pain Management and Neuromodulation, practising at Spencer Private Hospitals in Margate. He specialises in the treatment of chronic pain conditions using a combined medical, interventional, and psychological approach, with a particular expertise in Neuromodulation and Spinal Cord Stimulation.

Dr Collighan is the Lead Consultant for Pain Services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, President-Elect of the British Pain Society, and one of the first clinicians in the UK to be credentialed in Pain Medicine by the General Medical Council.

Practising at: Margate

Specialties: Pain Management, Neuromodulation, Anaesthetics, Spinal Cord Stimulation, Intrathecal Drug Delivery Devices, Intradiscal Thearapies

Special clinical interests:
Cervical spinal pain
Chronic pain following surgery and trauma
Chronic Pain Syndromes
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
Lumbar spinal pain and Sciatica
Musculoskeletal pain
Neuropathic pain
Spinal pain
Upper and lower limb pain

Research interests:
Neuromodulation and spinal pain

Current NHS and /or university posts:
Consultant in Pain Management and Neuromodulation, East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust

Year of first medical qualification and medical school attended: 1996, Edinburgh University Medical School

Current membership(s) of professional, national and regional bodies:
British Pain Society – Elected Council member. He will take on the role of President of the British Pain Society from May 2027
The Royal College of Anaesthetists
The Association of Anaesthetists British Medical Association
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
The British Pain Society - Treasurer of Interventional Pain Management Special Interest Group
The Neuromodulation Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland (NSUKI)
The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia (and Pain Therapy) (ESRA)
NICE liaison for NHS England Specialised Pain Services Clinical Reference Group

Background Information

Dr Collighan’s current NHS commitments are spread between the QEQM hospital, Margate, and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury. He also worked as an honorary Consultant at Guy's and St. Thomas’ Pain Management and Neuromodulation Service (2018-19).

Dr Collighan has been trained in the more complex interventional procedures, including spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery devices, and intradiscal therapies. He believes that all pain management strategies should be a combined medical, interventional, and psychological approach to ensure optimum results and patient well-being.

Dr Collighan has now developed a full multidisciplinary team to deliver a full Spinal Cord Stimulation service for Kent, in particular for chronic pain post spinal surgery, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and chronic peripheral (leg and/or arm) neuropathic pain.

He is one of 4 national representatives for the NHS England Specialised Pain Clinical Reference group.

Education and Research

Dr Collighan graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School in 1996. He spent the following 13 years undertaking training and research in anaesthesia, intensive care, and chronic pain management.

His higher specialist training in pain management was carried out at the Yorkshire School of Anaesthesia.

In July 2009, he was appointed as a consultant for the East Kent University NHS Foundation Trust in anaesthesia, intensive care and chronic pain management.

Dr Collighan has chaired national-level pain guideline development groups. He is an elected Council member of the British Pain Society, with liaison roles to NICE and the Interventional Pain Medicine special interest group.

He has co-chaired the editorial group that produced the UK guidelines on medial branch blocks and radiofrequency denervation of lumbar facet joints, published jointly by the British Pain Society and the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Faculty of Pain Medicine.

In addition, Dr Collighan has chaired a British Pain Society working group developing the UK statement on the use of steroids in axial procedures.

Accolades

Dr Collighan is President-Elect of the British Pain Society and will assume the presidency in May 2027.

He was credentialed in Pain Medicine by the General Medical Council in 2026 and holds the Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FFPMRCA). He has chaired the British Pain Society's Interventional Pain Management group since 2015 and has been a member of NHS England’s Device Working Group since 2018.

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