The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus has affected healthcare services across the world, with the impact on neurology services being no exception to the global disruption. There is variable reporting of neurological conditions during the pandemic. This work explores the patterns of admission to neurology wards in a large tertiary centre within the UK, providing insight into the real-world experience of neurologists at the forefront of the pandemic.

Comparing data from the period March 2019-March 2020, with March 2020-March 2021, we wished to identify and quantify specific alterations in caseload. Patient length of stay decreased by an average of 5 days during the pandemic, but the total number of admissions increased by 27%. Specifically, general medical admissions increased by 233% during the pandemic compared to the preceding year, highlight- ing the shift in workload away from neurology-specific cases. The types of diagnoses also shifted, with lower percentages of admissions for multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and functional cases, compared to rising numbers of cerebrovascular and CNS infection cases. While the impact of this changing caseload is yet to be fully appreciated, this early data allows further exploration of the pattern of neurological presenta- tions following the medicalisation of neurology wards.