Stroke-like symptoms
- Sudden weakness or numbness on one side
- Facial drooping
- Slurred speech or difficulty finding words
- Sudden loss of vision or double vision
- Sudden dizziness, imbalance, or inability to walk
Safety First · Emergency Warning
Urgent neurological symptoms: when to go to Emergency
Some brain, spine, and nerve symptoms may represent time-sensitive neurological disease. These symptoms should be assessed in an Emergency Department, not through routine appointment booking or social media messages.
If symptoms are sudden, severe, or rapidly worsening, attend the nearest Emergency Department immediately.
Brain pressure / seizure concerns
- First-ever seizure
- Sudden severe headache — worst headache of life
- Headache with vomiting, drowsiness, or confusion
- Rapid personality, memory, or behaviour change
- Reduced consciousness or severe lethargy
Spinal cord / nerve emergency
- Rapidly worsening arm or leg weakness
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Numbness around the groin or saddle area
- Both legs suddenly weak, heavy, or numb
- New severe walking difficulty or repeated falls
Routine appointment vs emergency
Do not wait for a clinic callback if symptoms are urgent
WhatsApp and online forms are for non-emergency appointment requests only. They are not monitored as emergency medical channels and cannot replace urgent clinical assessment.
Do not wait
Symptoms that should go directly to Emergency
Brain / stroke-like symptoms
- Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm, or leg
- Speech difficulty, confusion, facial drooping, or vision loss
- Seizure, collapse, or loss of consciousness
Severe headache symptoms
- Thunderclap headache or worst headache of life
- Headache with fever, neck stiffness, vomiting, confusion, or drowsiness
- Headache after head injury or while on blood thinners
Spine / nerve emergency
- New bladder or bowel control problem
- Numbness around the groin or saddle area
- Rapidly worsening leg weakness, foot drop, or walking difficulty
For these situations, the safest pathway is the nearest Emergency Department because urgent imaging, blood tests, monitoring, and hospital-based treatment may be needed. A website form or WhatsApp appointment request is not appropriate for emergency triage.
After emergency assessment
When clinic review may still be useful
After emergency conditions are excluded or stabilised, patients may still need neurosurgical review for MRI or CT findings, persistent symptoms, spine compression, brain lesions, or treatment planning. Please bring the discharge summary, scan images, reports, medication list, and any referral letter.
This page is for public safety education. It does not diagnose your condition. If symptoms are sudden, severe, progressive, or associated with neurological deficit, please attend the nearest Emergency Department immediately.
Practical information
What to tell the Emergency Department team
If you attend Emergency, clearly state the exact time the symptom started, whether symptoms are improving or worsening, current medications including blood thinners, recent trauma, cancer history, fever, pregnancy status where relevant, and any previous brain or spine surgery. Bring available MRI or CT images if you have them, but do not delay emergency attendance to collect documents.
Family members should mention seizure episodes, confusion, speech difficulty, walking change, bladder or bowel changes, and any sudden severe headache. These details help the emergency team decide whether urgent brain imaging, spine imaging, blood tests, monitoring, or specialist referral is needed.
Emergency assessment is especially important when symptoms are sudden, progressive, associated with reduced consciousness, or occur in a patient taking blood thinners, with cancer history, infection risk, recent trauma, or known brain or spine disease. The purpose is to rule out time-sensitive conditions before arranging routine specialist follow-up.
Routine clinic appointment requests are suitable only after the patient is stable, not actively deteriorating, and not showing features that require emergency imaging or hospital monitoring. When unsure, it is safer to attend Emergency first and use the clinic pathway later for follow-up explanation, scan review, or treatment planning. Delaying emergency assessment can reduce treatment options in time-sensitive brain and spine conditions safely.