Dr Paisley graduated with honours from Aberdeen University before completing Anaesthetic training in the West of Scotland. He was awarded a MSc from Edinburgh University in 2011 for his dissertation on chronic pain management in pancreatitis. He obtained Fellowship status from the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the RCoA obtaining the commendation merit award for outstanding performance in the examination.

He completed Advanced Pain Medicine training and was appointed as a consultant in Anaesthesia & Pain Management in Glasgow in 2018. At the Beatson West of Scotland cancer he is one of two regional experts in percutaneous cervical cordotomy. He has published and authored book chapters on cancer pain management as well as presenting internationally as far afield as Japan on the subject.

Since 2019, he has also been both the Regional Advisor for Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and TPD for Anaesthetics.

His interests include Raith Rovers and running around after his daughter 24/7