Unseen, Unheard, Unmanaged: The True Cost of Pain in Health and Social Care – Painchek

In this session, PainChek, in partnership with RLDatix / QCS, explores the real‑world impact of undetected and unmanaged pain, and how objective, technology‑enabled assessment can transform outcomes for residents, staff, providers, and the wider system.

This is not a technology story.

It is a quality, safety, and governance story.

What PainChek addresses

1. Giving a voice to those who cannot verbalise pain

PainChek exists to support people who:

• Live with dementia or cognitive impairment
• Cannot reliably describe pain
• Express distress through behaviour, movement, or withdrawal

Using AI‑enabled facial analysis combined with structured carer observation, PainChek enables objective pain assessment at the point of care, without relying on verbal reporting.

2. Moving pain assessment from subjective to objective

Traditional pain tools:

• Are paper‑based
• Are inconsistently used
• Depend heavily on subjective judgement
• Are rarely applied continuously

PainChek:

• Uses facial micro‑expression analysis (validated against pain indicators)
• Combines this with guided observation across movement, behaviour, vocalisation, body and activity
• Produces a consistent, repeatable pain score
• Supports reassessment and escalation

The result is confidence, not guesswork.

3. Pain as an early warning signal, not a late symptom

One of the most powerful insights from this session is that pain often:

• Precedes visible deterioration
• Signals brewing infection
• Appears before falls, delirium, or hospital admission

By identifying pain earlier, providers can:

• Intervene sooner
• Escalate clinically with evidence
• Prevent avoidable deterioration

Pain assessment becomes a preventive tool, not just a response.

Key themes at a glance

• Pain is a hidden driver of harm and cost
• Cognitive impairment magnifies risk
• Objective assessment changes behaviour and outcomes
• Early intervention prevents escalation
• Workforce confidence improves with evidence
• System savings follow quality improvement

Watch the full discussion to understand how pain assessment can shift from being unseen and unmanaged to a measurable, governable, and improvable aspect of care quality.