Private neurology in Cardiff: headache, nerve pain and neurophysiology testing

Spire Cardiff Hospital groups neurology with neurosurgery on its treatments pages. The A-Z entries I read include headache treatments, neuralgia and nerve pain, dizziness, craniotomy (brain surgery), back surgery and scoliosis correction. The hospital's home page, by contrast, lists its main specialties as bones and joints, general surgery, gynaecology, heart and men's and women's health, so neurology is something to confirm rather than assume.

Nuffield Health's Cardiff and Vale page lists neurophysiology testing among its services and, in its referral guidance, names neurology as a specialty for which it requests a referral. The hospital group's clinical tests for nerves and the brain are done at Cardiff Bay Hospital on Dunleavy Drive. For people who need a diagnostic test rather than a long-term neurologist relationship, that can be the more direct route.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board lists neurology among its own services. If a neurological condition is already being managed through the NHS, tell any private consultant and ask for results to be shared.

Spire Cardiff's headache page says it offers care through consultant neurologists. It describes migraine as affecting an estimated ten to fifteen percent of UK adults, with throbbing pain, nausea and light sensitivity lasting hours or days. It also names tension-type headache, medication overuse headache, where frequent painkillers sustain the cycle, and secondary headaches caused by an underlying structural problem such as neck arthritis or a vascular condition, for which early diagnosis matters.

The approach starts with a consultation covering history and symptoms, possibly followed by scans or blood tests. The treatments the page names are prescription medicines, withdrawal from medication or caffeine overuse, multiple cranial nerve blocks and injections for chronic migraine. Bring a headache diary, listing days, triggers and every medicine taken, because it often changes what the neurologist suggests.

Red flags change the pathway entirely. A sudden thunderclap headache, headache after a head injury, headache with fever and a stiff neck, or with new weakness, confusion or visual loss needs emergency care through 999 or A&E.

Spire Cardiff's neuralgia page distinguishes trigeminal neuralgia, which causes intense facial pain triggered by everyday actions such as washing the face, from post-herpetic neuralgia, a complication of shingles. It says diagnosis rests on history and examination, with neurologist-performed tests that may include EMG or nerve conduction studies.

Treatment options on the page include ordinary pain medicines, specialised drugs such as anticonvulsants, membrane stabilisers and antidepressants (used for their effect on nerve pain), heat treatments and neurosurgery. The Cardiff private pain pathway overlaps here, so the Cardiff pain management guide on this site covers the injection and stimulation options that sit alongside.

Nuffield's neurophysiology page lists five tests, performed by clinical physiologists. An EEG records the brain's electrical activity through sensors on the scalp. Nerve conduction studies assess how well nerves carry signals. EMG assesses the electrical activity of muscle using a fine needle. Evoked potentials, in visual, somatosensory and brainstem auditory forms, measure how quickly signals travel along sensory pathways. A multiple sleep latency test measures how fast you fall asleep during the day.

The page lists the problems the tests help to investigate: seizures, muscle weakness, numbness and tingling, nerve damage, peripheral neuropathy, suspected multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy and hearing disturbances. Sessions typically take 30 to 60 minutes, and the page says both GP referral and self-referral are accepted. It also says the facility is approved by Bupa and WPA, so check with your own insurer before assuming cover.

A test result is only part of a diagnosis. It needs a clinician to interpret it alongside symptoms and examination, so ask who will review the report, whether it goes to your GP and what the next step would be.

Spire Cardiff's craniotomy page describes an operation in which a section of skull is opened to reach the brain. Reasons include removing a tumour or blood clot, repairing leaking blood vessels, treating epilepsy, placing deep brain stimulators and relieving pressure after injury or stroke. It describes neuro-navigation, general anaesthesia, with awake surgery sometimes possible, and a hospital stay of typically five to seven days.

Back surgery and scoliosis correction appear on the same A-Z, which links neurology to spinal care. Conditions of this complexity demand an honest conversation about whether a private hospital's critical-care and transfer arrangements suit your case, and what happens if you need intensive care. Ask directly.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board lists neurology as one of its specialty services, delivered through its hospitals including University Hospital of Wales and Llandough. For waiting-time ambitions, Wales uses a target that 95 percent of patients wait under 26 weeks from referral and everyone is treated within 36, per Senedd Research. That article, last updated in December 2024, says neither had been met for years.

Wales has no equivalent of England's right to choose a hospital, so a GP referral normally goes through the health board. Urgent concerns are for NHS 111 Wales out of hours and 999 in an emergency.