Specialty: Neurology
Age group: Adult
Direct to an emergency department for:
- Seizure with:
- focal deficit post-ictally
- seizure associated with recent trauma
- persistent severe headache more than 1 hour post-ictally
- seizure with fever
- Prolonged or recurrent seizure (more than one in 24 hours) with incomplete recovery
- Persisting altered level of consciousness.
Criteria for referral to public hospital specialist clinic services
- Suspected seizure
- New diagnosis of epilepsy (suspected or confirmed)
- Frequent seizures, particularly convulsive seizures
- Planning for pregnancy or pregnancy with epilepsy
- Advice on, or review of, epilepsy management plan including driving assessment for commercial drivers, changes to medicines, the management of epilepsy with concurrent conditions.
Information to be included in the referral
Information that must be provided:
- Onset, characteristics and frequency of seizures
- If the patient is pregnant.
Provide if available:
- Electroencephalogram results
- Neuroimaging results
- Current and complete medication history and recent therapeutic medication levels.
Additional comments
The Summary and referral information lists the information that should be included in a referral request.
Where appropriate and available, the referral may be directed to an alternative specialist clinic or service.
Referral to a public hospital is not appropriate for
Not applicable.
Reviewed 30 May 2025