Dr Fausto Morell-Ducos details
Email:
Location:
- University College Hospital
- University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
- University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
- University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
GMC/GDC number:
6099142
Professional background
Dr Fausto Morell-Ducos is a substantive consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine at UCLH NHS Foundation Trust. He is the clinical lead for pain management services at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, including the complex pain team and cancer pain interventions team at University College Hospital. He is co-chair of UCLH's pain steering group and opioid stewardship committee.
He has extensive experience in the interdisciplinary management of complex acute, chronic, and acute-on-chronic pain conditions in the presence of polypharmacy and significant comorbidities including neuropathic pain, hypermobility/Ehlers-Danlos, sickle cell disease, functional abdominal pain disorders, and fibromyalgia. He is also highly experienced in the interdisciplinary management of chronic pain in the presence of mood disorders, personality disorders, complex PTSD, autism spectrum disorder, and functional neurological disorders.
His anaesthetic practice includes major general and gynaecological oncological surgery, and he is the perioperative medicine lead for the London Complex Mesh Centre.
Dr Morell-Ducos graduated with honours from the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds and trained in general internal medicine, obtaining MRCP in 2007 prior to commencing anaesthetics specialty training at the North Central London School of Anaesthesia. He subsequently completed an advanced pain medicine fellowship at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospitals, carried out additional training in psychiatry in North East London Foundation Trust and took time out of training to work and teach at a hospital in Northen Ethiopia.
Dr Morell-Ducos is an honorary lecturer at UCL and is actively involved in postgraduate education, having led the development of curriculum material for new MSc modules. He also developed an innovative massive open online cours (Opioids and Surgery) for UCL Digital Education involving collaboration with internationally recognised experts in pain medicine.
Research interests
During his specialty training Dr Morell-Ducos was awarded a Biomedical Research Centre Studentship to complete a research Master’s degree, awarded with distinction, in clinical and experimental medicine at UCL.
His current research interests include persistent postoperative opioid use and opioid stewardship, ketamine-assisted psychological therapy, and greater occipital nerve blocks in the management of chronic migraine. He is the author of a number of peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and abstracts, and has presented his work internationally. He is a regular peer reviewer for research-focused journals.
Languages spoken
Spanish, Italian
Publications
- Morell-Ducos F, Samson J, Smart J, Gondongwe XD, Williams AC de C. Experience of opioid cessation after surgery in opioid-naïve patients in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study. British Journal of Pain. 2026;0(0). (First published online April 19 2026) doi:10.1177/20494637261443815
- Morell-Ducos F. Multimodal Analgesia and Adjunctive Techniques. Chapter in: Gulur, P; Elsharkawy H, Przkora R, editors. Perioperative Pain Management: From Preoperative Optimization to Transitional Postoperative Care. 1st Edition. Springer Nature AG, Switzerland, 2026.
- Atraszkiewicz D, Ünal E, Bassett P, Morell-Ducos F, Bahra A. Greater occipital nerve block for the treatment of migraine: An umbrella review, systematic review, and meta-
analysis. Cephalalgia. 2025;45(12). - Morell-Ducos, F, McGuckin, D, Smart, J, Brandner, B. Opioids and Surgery: a MOOC. An innovative approach to education in perioperative opioid stewardship. Pain News 2023, 21(4) 122–123.
- McGuckin, D, Morell-Ducos, F, Smart, J. Opioids and Surgery: a Massive Open Online Course. Transmitter, 2023, 28: 16-17.
- Vacher E, Kosela M, Song-Smith C, Morell-Ducos F, Fayaz A. Lidocaine infusions in chronic pain management: A prospective case series analysis. British Journal of Pain. 2022;16(3):270-280.
- Morell-Ducos, FM, Tidman, V, Curran, V. Spotlight on: UCLH Complex Pain Team. Transmitter, 20:12-13.
- Morell-Ducos FM. Genetic variation in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and morphine requirements in cancer patients with pain. Chapter in Landmark Papers in Pain, Farquhar-Smith P, Jaggar S, Beaulieu P Eds. Oxford University Press. 2018.