REMEDY : BNSSG referral pathways & Joint Formulary


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Spinal Surgery

Checked: 30-01-2024 by Rob Adams Next Review: 29-01-2026

Back pain and Spinal imaging

For advice on management of back pain and sciatica please see the Back pain page of Remedy.

There is also useful imaging advice in the Radiology Guidelines for Primary Care page of Remedy. This includes advice on when to refer patients with suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome.

Referral for spinal surgery

Referrals for spinal surgery are subject to the Referral for Assessment for Spinal Surgical Opinion Prior Approval Policy and should not be sent directly to the neurosurgeons.

Referrals should be sent to local MSK Interface service initially.



Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.