We currently use 2 recognised pain scores in our Emergency Department, depending on the age of the patient.  The FLACC score (ref) was put together at the end of the 1990’s and has been validated for use in pre-verbal children aged 2 months to 7 years.  The Wong Baker (“smiley faces”) score is for use in the over 3’s.  We also ask older children to give us a mark out of 10 on their pain with 10 being the worst they have ever felt and 1 being not too bad.  Our local pain protocol suggests what the health professional should do with the information gleaned and when the child should be reassessed.  I have reproduced that table for you here.  The UK Department of Health National Service Framework for young people and maternity services says that the prevention, assessment and control of pain in children should be subject to regular audit.