Acute neurology admission criteria

This is a list of patient diagnoses which are admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) by our Acute Neurology team, the timeframe in which they should be treated, and their estimated length of stay (LoS).

Health professionals are reminded that this information is for guidance only.

Emergency admissions

Children with the following diagnoses are considered an emergency and should be transferred to GOSH within hours from receipt of referral.

Diagnosis	Estimated LoS
Guillain Barre	3-5 days
Head injury	2-5 days
Myasthenia Gravis (autoimmune acute deterioration)	3-5 days
Neonatal Encephalopathy	2-5 days
Suspected spinal cord compression	3-5 days
Transverse myelitis	5-10 days

Urgent admissions

Children with the following diagnoses should be transferred to GOSH within days from receipt of referral.

Diagnosis	Estimated LoS
Acute demyelination	Rapid Assessment Neurology Unit (RANU) assessment
Acute onset movement disorder (eg status dystonicus, athetosis)	3-5 days
Encephalitis	5-10 days
Exacerbation of symptoms in known patients (Cerebral Palsy/Neurodegen/Myasthenia Gravis/Demyelin/etc)	3-5 days
Hypotonic infants (undiagnosed)	RANU assessment with subsequent ward admission as required
Infantile spasms	RANU assessment
Prolonged, uncontrolled seizures: new onset	3-5 days
Prolonged, uncontrolled seizures: known seizure disorder	3-5 days
Rapidly progressive degenerative disorders	3-5 days
Status migranosus	5 days
Syndromic infants (undiagnosed)	RANU assessment with subsequent ward admission as required

Elective admissions

Children with the following diagnoses should be referred to GOSH via the non-emergency pathway.

Diagnosis	Estimated LoS
Adolescents with puzzling symptoms	3-4 days

Unlikely to admit

for planned rehabilitation
for planned palliative care

Reviewed by: Lucinda Carr, Consultant. February 2012