This site contains the South Australian Clinical Prioritisation Criteria (CPC) for most frequently referred neurosurgery conditions.

Neurosurgery conditions

Please note this is not an exhaustive list of all conditions for outpatient services and does not exclude consideration for referral unless specifically stipulated in the neurosurgery exclusions section.

Out of scope

Not all medical conditions are covered by the CPC, as certain conditions may be considered out of scope or managed by other specialist services:

Exclusions for public specialist outpatient services

Not all ophthalmology conditions are appropriate for referral into the South Australian public health system. The following are not routinely provided in a public specialist outpatient service:

  • Adults with asymptomatic treated hydrocephalus without one of the following:
    • clinical deterioration/new symptoms
    • transfer of care (interstate/international)
    • transition of care from paediatric service
  • Incidental/asymptomatic craniocervical junction variants and expected degenerative changes in adults
  • Non-specific axial spinal pain
  • Undisplaced non compound skull fracture in adults
  • Traumatic brain injury without radiological abnormality
  • Trigeminal neuralgia and other cranial nerve abnormalities in adults which have:
    • not been previously treated in a primary care setting
    • not had a trial of at least one preventative agent

Emergency information

See the individual condition pages for more specific emergency information.

Feedback

We welcome requests for further information or feedback on the CPC and website, please refer to the relevant form below.

Please email the completed form to Health.CPC@sa.gov.au.

Review

The neurosurgery CPC is due for review in July 2026.

Evidence statement

For a copy of the evidence statement, please email Health.CPC@sa.gov.au