Dr Alan Fayaz details
Location:
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
GMC/GDC number:
6076122
Professional background
Dr Alan Fayaz is a substantive consultant in pain medicine, anaesthesia and perioperative care at UCLH, specialising in chronic pain management, spinal pain, neuropathic pain and nerve pain. His clinical interests span the management of patients with neuropathic pain, pain related to neurological disease, nerve pain arising from complex conditions, and general complex pain. He also regularly treats pain in multiple sclerosis, drawing on advanced techniques in chronic pain management.
He studied preclinical medicine at the University of Cambridge and clinical medicine at Imperial College London. In 2012, he was awarded the Faculty of Pain Medicine Examination Prize for achieving the highest score in the FFPMRCA examination. He also received the Nuffield Gold Medal from the Royal College of Anaesthetists for outstanding performance in the primary FRCA examination.
Dr Fayaz serves as acting chair of the Communications Committee and Media Liaison for the British Pain Society, where he leads efforts to increase public awareness of chronic pain, neuropathic pain and nerve pain, and to strengthen engagement between clinicians, patients and allied health professionals. Alan is also co-opted to the board of the British Pain Society, and has a role as a non executive directed of a multiple sclerosis charity: SHIFT-MS.
He has extensive involvement in undergraduate and postgraduate education. Working with the Faculty of Pain Medicine and Mercy Ships, he has delivered Essentials of Pain Medicine (EPM) training to healthcare professionals in Africa, as well as to medical students and junior doctors in the United Kingdom. He currently serves as the Regional Lead for EPM in London and has recently been accepted as a postgraduate examiner for the Faculty of Pain Medicine Examination Board.
Specialties
Research interests
In 2017, Dr Fayaz obtained his doctorate in medical research from Imperial College London following the submission of his thesis on pain epidemiology. His research outputs include a landmark assessment of the prevalence of chronic pain phenotypes in the United Kingdom, published in the British Medical Journal. The paper has been cited more than 850 times and holds an altmetric score in the top 5% of all research outputs to date.
Dr Fayaz is an honorary associate professor at University College London and leads the Pain Education Research Centre (PERC@UCLH). His current research focuses on the perioperative care of complex pain patients, advanced treatments for neuropathic pain and spinal pain, and the role of cannabis‑based medicinal products in chronic pain management.
Languages spoken
Farsi, French
Publications
- Provision of Intravenous Lidocaine for Chronic Pain. A Survey of Current Practice Across Pain Services in the United Kingdom. Fayaz, A. (2024). British Journal of Pain 18(1_suppl): 1-71.
- Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain in the UK: An 18-Month Longitudinal Observational Study of 1993 Individuals Enrolled in Project Twenty21. Lambarth, A. Lynskey, M. Schlag, A. Fayaz, A. British Journal of Pain 18(1_suppl): 1-71.
- Chapter 31: Pain in Neurological Disorders. Neurology: A Queen Square Textbook, 3rd Edition Fayaz A, Bhattacharjee A. Wiley-Blackwell. [Editors: Howard R, Kullman DM, Werring D, Zandi M] March 2024
- Interventions to reduce postsurgical pain, and opioid use, in patients with pre-existing chronic pain or high-dose opioid use: a systematic review (Senior author) Russell T, Oliver C, Daly M, et al. Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2023;48:A42-A43.
- Predicting severe pain after major surgery: a secondary analysis of the Peri-operative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP) dataset. Armstrong RA, Fayaz A, Manning GLP, et al. Anaesthesia. 2023 Mar 2. PMID: 36862937.
- Oral and parenteral anti-neuropathic agents for the management of pain and discomfort in irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lambarth, A, Zarate-Lopez, N, Fayaz, A. Neurogastroenterology & Motil
- Characteristics of People Seeking Prescribed Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Chronic Pain: Evidence From Project Twenty 21 Schlag AK, Lynskey M, Fayaz A, et al. Front Pain Res. 2022
- Lidocaine infusions in chronic pain management: A prospective case series analysis. Vacher E, Kosela M, Song-Smith C, Morell-Ducos F, Fayaz A. Br J Pain. 2022.
- Global variance in pain prevalence: what does it tell us?
- Fayaz A. Pain News 2022, Vol 20(2) 51–52 © The British Pain Society 2022. Sage
- A Multicriteria Decision Analysis Comparing Pharmacotherapy for Chronic Neuropathic Pain, Including Cannabinoids and Cannabis-Based Medical Products
- Nutt DJ, Lawrence PD, Barnes MP, et al. Journal of Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, March 2021
- The Association Between Chronic Pain and Cardiac Disease: A Cross-sectional Population Study. Fayaz A, Watt HC, Langford RM, Donaldson LJ. The Clinical Journal of Pain. 2016;32(12):1062-8.
- Assessing the relationship between chronic pain and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Fayaz A, Ayis S, Panesar S, Langford RM, Donaldson LJ. Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 2016 Oct;13:76-90
- Prevalence of chronic pain in the UK: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population studies. Fayaz A, Croft P, Langford RM, Donaldson LJ, Jones GT. BMJ Open. 2016;6(6).
- Integrating Research with Chronic Pain Training. A Fayaz. Transmitter Journal, p14 Autumn 2014.
- Case Report: Cervical Meningioma presenting with back pain; A Fayaz, S Nikolic. Journal of Observational Pain Medicine Vol. 1 No. 3 (2014) ISSN: 2047-0800
- Physiotherapy after spinal injections; A Fayaz, K Ullrich. Pain News Vol. 11 No. 3 (2013) p185-187
- Leadership development for early career doctors; CEM Coltart, R Cheung, A Ardolino et al. The Lancet Vol. 379 No. 9828 May 12, 2012 p1763-1850
- Checking placement of nasogastric feeding tubes in adults: summary of a safety report from the NPSA; Lamont T, Beaumont C, A Fayaz et al. BMJ 2011.1022;342:d2586
- Reporting and Learning from Close Calls. A Fayaz, L Morlock. Chapter 2 from the book ‘The value of Close Calls in Improving Patient Safety’ published under the Joint Commission resources, 2011, p13-24
- Reducing the harm caused by misplaced nasogastric feeding tubes in adults, children and infants; National Patient Safety Agency: Patient Safety Alert 002; March 2011; (Co-author and project lead)
- Clinical Audit: Why it matters; A Fayaz. BMJ careers July 2010.
- Pauci-immune necrotizing and crescenteric glomerulonephritis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus; A Fayaz, Y Pirson, JP Cosyns et al. Clin Nephrology. 2008 Apr; 69(4):290-3
- Neoadjuvant FEC chemotherapy followed by docetaxel in refractory patients with locally advanced breast cancer; W Heller, D Mazhar, R Ward et al. Oncology Rep. 2007 Jan;17(1):253-9 (Data Collection and Analysis)