Barwon Health’s Neurosurgery service is provided by visiting Neurosurgeons once per month, and by Advanced Practice Physiotherapists each week. There are no Neurosurgery Registrars or on-call service available in Geelong.

The Physiotherapists conduct spinal assessment clinics to screen patients to determine their care needs. The Physiotherapists triage referrals multiple times per week.

Patients requiring surgery are referred to and operated on in Melbourne. Post-operative appointments are also delivered in Melbourne.

Conditions seen

Barwon Health offers a Neurosurgery service for the following conditions:

  • Degenerative spinal conditions:
    • cervical radiculopathy
    • sciatica
    • neurogenic claudication
  • Cranial:
    • brain tumour
    • brain aneurysms
    • brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
    • brain fistula
    • pituitary lesion
    • Chiari malformations
    • trigeminal neuralgia
    • hemifacial spasm

Conditions not seen

Barwon Health Neurosurgery does not accept referrals for the following conditions:

  • Spinal trauma (e.g. fractures, dislocations)
  • Spinal infection
  • Paediatric neurosurgical or spinal conditions
  • Head injury
  • Acute stroke or acute intracranial haemorrhage
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Spinal cord compression
  • Spinal tumour
  • Cauda equina syndrome
  • Second opinions, where a patient has already received the opinion of another neurosurgeon / spinal surgeon.
  • Patients who have had prior neurosurgery or spinal surgery at another health service within the last 10 years.

How do I access this service

To be seen in the Neurosurgery specialist clinic you need to be referred by your GP, another specialist doctor or your Barwon Health doctor. We are unable to see you in our clinics without a referral.

Due to limited appointments some patients may need to be referred directly to a Neurosurgical unit in Melbourne (by their referring GP) to be seen in a more timely manner.

Wait time

All requests for specialist clinic appointments are scheduled according to the patient’s clinical need. Clinicians assess whether an appointment is urgent or routine, based on information provided in the referral.

Barwon Health aims to see all ‘urgent’ referrals within 30 days. Our wait times for patients who are categorised as ‘routine’ are more variable, depending on the demand for our services.

The Victorian Agency for Health Information also publishes information about the waiting time for routine first appointments.

Routine first appointments | Victorian Agency for Health Information

Speciality
Projected wait time

No Wait times to show

For Health Professionals

State-referral criteria may apply for conditions under this specialty requiring further assessment and management. Referring clinicians are encouraged to utilise Western Victoria Community HealthPathways for referral guidelines and requirements for all conditions.

For urgent referral advice, please contact a Neurosurgical unit in Melbourne, as there is no on-call service available in Geelong.

Complete the specialist clinics referral template and send via:

  • ReferralNet
  • Fax: 03 4215 1383

Referral templates for Barwon Health services are available for importing into Best Practice, Medical Director or ZedMed. Please see the Referral templates page for the most up-to-date forms.

If you do not use the above clinical software, please complete a referral letter on your practice/health service letterhead, ensuring all required referral information is included.

If you need to contact us regarding the templates, please contact the GP Liaison Unit on 03 4215 8845 or [email protected].

For patients who require reassessment, a new referral should be sent through. To facilitate earlier access, the new referral must contain the following information:

  • State the referral is an update for a current patient
  • Date of original referral
  • Reason for requesting a review of referral (e.g. deterioration in clinical condition, pathology)

The referrer will be notified of the outcome of the re-triage process.

GPs or referring doctors wishing to discuss the triage of their patient’s referral, or who require additional information, please ring the GP hotline on 03 4215 1398.

Page last updated: September 9, 2025