People with chronic pain conditions are the first in the country to use new cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) immersive technology to help manage their conditions.
During the past 18-months the Pain Rehabilitation Team and Digital Futures at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) have worked with around 50 patients, all with differing physical challenges resulting from chronic pain, or suffering with severe anxiety, to test a range of VR products to assess their benefit with the hope of finding alternative solutions to treatment and combat these conditions.
The team held a summer showcase at Torbay Hospital on Monday 07 July where people could learn more about the range of treatments on offer. The team was joined by former patients who are now supporting this scheme as volunteer for this method of treatment, and the Torbay Hospital League of Friends that generously bought key equipment to allow this vital service evaluation and research work to take place.
Physiotherapist Phillipa Newton-Cross is the service lead for the Pain Rehabilitation Team: “We are the only NHS Trust in the country who are using CUREO VR therapy software to offer patients an alternative solution to chronic pain rehabilitation. For the past two years we have been exploring how we can improve the lives of patients using methods that avoid medication and promote movement and wellbeing by using VR immersive therapy.
“We have run one-to-one VR clinics with patients and have found some incredible results and benefits to health, including alternatives to medicated pain relief, and how new technology can help patients suffering from chronic pain, long-term health conditions, anxiety and low mood in new and innovative ways.
“This is bespoke software, and we feel very fortunate to be the only NHS Setting in the UK that is using this particular therapy software to help people living with chronic pain”
The VR Summer Showcase started in June with a special session for people who took part in the CUREO VR short course with the Pain Rehabilitation Team working out of Teignmouth Hospital, as part of our ReConnect2Life programme which looks at working with pain in a different way.
The public showcase took place at Torbay Hospital on Monday 07 July 2025 with further events planned throughout the summer as the team showcase other therapeutic software including Nature VR Immersion and Soulpaint which is a multi-award-winning virtual reality experience backed by behavioural scientists and researchers.
Trust Chairman Chris Balch added: “Our physiotherapy teams are taking this portable technology into people’s homes to help patients manage chronic pain, meaning you don’t have to travel into a hospital setting. This is better for a lot of people as they get to work on their condition but in a location where they feel comfortable.
“We have recently seen the announcement of the new 10-year plan for the NHS, where three key shifts are highlighted – from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention.
“This type of cutting-edge healthcare using VR technology, examining how we can tackle pain and anxiety through non-medicated pathways and within the patients home absolutely supports the future aspirations of the NHS. I am so proud of the Pain Rehabilitation Team for their energy and passion in driving this technology forward for the good of our patients.”
The team are also currently undertaking a 12-week trial with ROHKEA VR which is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy and movement therapy that helps patients engage more with meaningful activities despite chronic pain. This is taking place with patients who are using VR headsets and ROHKEA software to manage pain and tackle anxiety but using this form of treatment daily within their own homes.
Emma Stevens was part of the CUREO VR project last year and has now joined the 12-week ROHKEA trial. She spoke about how using the VR headsets has helped her manage her debilitating pain condition: “When I was working with the headset and doing my therapy I wasn’t thinking about the pain, it just took me somewhere else where I could do things without discomfort. It is just so helpful.”
Martin Tucker, Chair of Torbay Hospital League of Friends who attended the Summer Showcase event at Torbay Hospital, said: “The League of Friends are delighted to support the Pain Rehabilitation Team. We paid for and donated the two headsets, and the license needed to allow the team to start exploring this new way of working.
“This is cutting edge technology, and we are so proud to see the Trust trying something new and innovative to make strides in developing this new way of looking at health and rehabilitation.”
