What Remote Neurology Covers — And What Requires In-Person Assessment
This is the most important section to read before booking. Remote neurology covers a substantial and clinically valuable proportion of neurological assessment — but neurological medicine has specific examination requirements that cannot be replicated remotely. Being clear about this scope ensures you get the right care for your specific concern.
What this specialist consultation covers:
- Comprehensive neurological history and symptom assessment
- Review and specialist interpretation of existing investigations — MRI, CT, EEG, nerve conduction studies, blood results
- Diagnostic formulation based on clinical history and available investigations
- Assessment and management of established neurological conditions — headache, epilepsy, neuropathy, movement disorders, MS
- Second opinion on neurological diagnosis or management plan
- Investigation coordination — MRI, CT, EEG, nerve conduction studies, lumbar puncture referral where indicated
- Medication review and management recommendations at the specialist's professional discretion
- Lifestyle, rehabilitation, and self-management guidance
- Coordination with GP, allied health professionals, and subspecialty neurology services
- Transition planning — from paediatric to adult neurology services
What requires in-person assessment:
- Full neurological examination — cranial nerve testing, power, tone, reflexes, coordination, sensory testing, plantar responses, gait analysis
- New onset seizure — requires in-person assessment and urgent investigation
- First episode of suspected stroke or TIA — emergency or urgent in-person assessment
- Acute neurological deterioration — always attend A&E
- EEG recording — requires in-person attendance at a neurophysiology department
- Lumbar puncture — in-person procedure
- Nerve conduction studies and EMG — in-person neurophysiology procedure
Your neurologist will advise clearly if your presentation requires in-person assessment and will coordinate the appropriate clinical pathway — including urgency where indicated.
Conditions Commonly Assessed and Managed
- Headache & Migraine
- Migraine — episodic and chronic migraine assessment and specialist management
- Tension-type headache — assessment and management
- Cluster headache — specialist assessment and management
- Medication overuse headache — assessment and management
- New daily persistent headache — specialist assessment
- Headache review — patients not responding to current management
- Trigeminal neuralgia — assessment and management
- Secondary headache assessment — review of investigations and specialist formulation
- Epilepsy & Seizures
- Established epilepsy — management review and medication optimisation
- Seizure type clarification — specialist review of existing diagnosis
- Anti-epileptic medication review — efficacy, tolerability, and drug interactions
- Epilepsy and driving — DVLA guidance and clinical assessment
- Epilepsy in women — contraception, pregnancy planning, and periconceptual management
- Post-seizure review — following first or recurrent seizure with existing investigations available
- Epilepsy second opinion — independent specialist review of diagnosis or management
- Peripheral Nervous System
- Peripheral neuropathy — assessment, investigation coordination, and management
- Carpal tunnel syndrome — clinical assessment and management
- Ulnar neuropathy and other entrapment neuropathies
- Guillain-Barré syndrome — post-acute review and rehabilitation coordination
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease — assessment and management
- Small fibre neuropathy — assessment and investigation coordination
- Diabetic neuropathy — specialist assessment and management
- Movement Disorders
- Parkinson's disease — management review and medication optimisation
- Essential tremor — assessment and management
- Dystonia — assessment and management coordination
- Restless legs syndrome — assessment and management
- Functional movement disorder — specialist assessment and formulation
- Gait difficulties — assessment and investigation coordination
- Demyelinating Conditions
- Multiple sclerosis — management review, relapse assessment, and disease-modifying therapy discussion
- Clinically isolated syndrome — specialist assessment and management
- Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder — management review
- Post-MS fatigue and symptom management
- Cognitive & Memory Concerns
- Memory concerns — specialist assessment and investigation coordination
- Mild cognitive impairment — assessment, investigation, and monitoring
- Cognitive assessment and referral for formal neuropsychological testing
- Post-COVID cognitive symptoms — brain fog, memory, and concentration difficulties
- Young-onset cognitive concerns — specialist assessment and investigation
- Cerebrovascular
- TIA — post-event review with existing investigations
- Stroke — post-acute review, secondary prevention, and rehabilitation coordination
- Cerebral small vessel disease — management and monitoring
- Migraine with aura — cardiovascular risk assessment and management
- Neuromuscular Conditions
- Myasthenia gravis — management review
- Muscular dystrophies — management support and coordination
- Motor neurone disease — supportive assessment and coordination
- Inflammatory myopathies — assessment and coordination
- Headache & Facial Pain
- Facial pain — specialist assessment and differential formulation
- Temporomandibular joint-related neurological symptoms
- Post-herpetic neuralgia — assessment and management
- Other
- Functional neurological disorder — specialist assessment and management
- Chronic fatigue syndrome with neurological dimension — assessment and management
- Post-COVID neurological symptoms — fatigue, neuropathy, headache, cognitive symptoms
- Sleep disorders with neurological basis — restless legs, narcolepsy assessment
- Neurological second opinion — independent specialist review of diagnosis or management plan
- Neurology review for patients managed abroad — review within Irish clinical context
What Your Consultation Includes
Comprehensive Neurological HistoryYour neurologist will conduct a detailed clinical history — covering your presenting symptoms, their onset, progression, frequency, duration, associated features, triggers, and impact on daily function. Neurological history is the cornerstone of neurological diagnosis — and a thorough history conducted by a consultant neurologist frequently provides more diagnostic clarity than any single investigation.
Review of Existing InvestigationsIf you have existing MRI or CT reports, EEG results, nerve conduction study reports, blood results, or specialist letters, your neurologist will review these in full during the consultation — providing specialist interpretation and clinical context that is frequently the most valuable component of the consultation for patients who have had investigations but not had them reviewed by a neurologist.
Diagnostic FormulationBased on your history and available investigations, your neurologist will provide a diagnostic formulation — a specialist clinical explanation of what is most likely driving your symptoms, what further assessment or investigation is needed, and what the differential diagnosis includes. This formulation is explained clearly in plain language.
Investigation CoordinationWhere further investigations are clinically indicated — MRI, CT, EEG, nerve conduction studies, blood tests, or lumbar puncture referral — your neurologist will coordinate these through our Referral & Diagnostic Investigation service, ensuring you access the right investigations efficiently and in the right clinical sequence.
Specialist Management PlanBased on your assessment, your neurologist will provide a comprehensive management plan — including medication review and recommendations at the specialist's professional discretion, lifestyle guidance, rehabilitation coordination, and a clear follow-up pathway.
Second OpinionFor patients seeking an independent specialist perspective on a neurological diagnosis or management plan — including those received from another neurologist or in another country — your neurologist will conduct a full review and provide a clear, evidence-based independent assessment.
When to See a Neurologist vs Your GP
Many neurological concerns are appropriately assessed at GP level in the first instance — and your GP is the right first point of contact for most new neurological symptoms. A specialist neurology consultation adds clinical value when:
- Your GP has identified neurological findings or symptoms that require specialist interpretation or management
- Your neurological condition has not responded adequately to GP-level management
- You have an established neurological condition requiring specialist ongoing management — epilepsy, MS, Parkinson's disease, neuropathy
- You need specialist investigation coordination — MRI brain, EEG, nerve conduction studies
- You want an independent second opinion on a neurological diagnosis or management plan
- You have been diagnosed with a neurological condition abroad and want it reviewed within the Irish clinical context
- You have had investigations that have not been reviewed by a neurologist
If you have not yet had a GP assessment of your neurological concern, our Acute Medical Consultation is the right starting point. Your GP will assess your symptoms, screen for red flags, and advise on whether specialist neurology input is needed and how urgently.
A Note on Neurological Diagnosis
Neurological diagnosis is among the most complex in medicine. Many neurological conditions cannot be definitively diagnosed on the basis of history alone — they require a combination of clinical history, in-person neurological examination, and investigation findings to reach a diagnostic conclusion.
A remote neurology consultation provides the clinical history component and the investigation review component to specialist standard. Where in-person neurological examination is needed to complete the diagnostic picture, your neurologist will advise clearly and coordinate the appropriate referral.
This is not a limitation unique to remote neurology — it reflects the nature of neurological diagnosis itself. What a remote neurology consultation provides is specialist clinical thinking applied to your history and existing investigations — which for many patients is the component of neurological assessment they have been missing.
Support for Expats and International Residents
Neurological conditions managed in one country frequently require careful review when a patient relocates. Medication names, treatment protocols, and diagnostic classifications vary between healthcare systems — and what was appropriate management in one context may not align with Irish neurological practice standards.
Our neurologists regularly support expat patients managing neurological conditions across healthcare systems — reviewing diagnoses made abroad, assessing management plans within the Irish clinical context, and providing continuity of specialist neurological care for patients navigating multiple healthcare systems.
For patients whose neurological investigations or clinical letters are in Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, or Romanian — our multilingual clinical team can review these directly, ensuring nothing is lost in translation.
Why Patients Choose Us
IMC Specialist Division — NeurologyOur neurologists are registered on the Specialist Division in Neurology with the Irish Medical Council — the highest level of neurological specialist qualification in Ireland. You are speaking with a consultant neurologist, not a GP with a neurology interest.
Specialist investigation reviewExisting MRI reports, EEG results, nerve conduction studies, and neurological investigation findings are reviewed by a consultant neurologist — providing the specialist interpretation that these investigations require and frequently clarifying clinical pictures that have been unclear at GP level.
Same-day and advance appointmentsAvailable seven days a week including evenings and weekends — because neurological concerns — persistent headache, unexplained numbness, memory changes — cause significant anxiety and access to specialist opinion should not require a months-long waiting list.
Second opinion expertiseOur neurologists regularly provide independent second opinions on neurological diagnoses and management plans — including those received from other neurologists or in other countries. This is particularly valuable for patients who have received diagnoses they do not fully understand or management plans that have not produced the expected clinical response.
Investigation coordination includedWhere further investigations are clinically indicated, your neurologist coordinates these through our Referral & Diagnostic Investigation service — so you leave the consultation with a clear investigation pathway and the appropriate documentation.
Multilingual neurological careConsultations available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, and Romanian — and existing investigations and clinical letters in these languages reviewed directly without requiring translation.
