Which red flag symptoms in a patient with ataxia warrant urgent referral to a neurologist?

For an adult patient presenting with ataxia, the primary red flag symptom indicating the need for urgent referral to a neurologist is rapidly progressive unsteady gait (gait ataxia) ¹. If the gait ataxia progresses rapidly, specifically within days to weeks, adults should be referred for neurological assessment using a suspected cancer pathway referral ¹.