A 67-year-old man attends his GP after three days of intermittent “fogging” in the upper temporal field of his left eye. He denies chest discomfort, dyspnoea, or limb weakness. He reports mild occipital pressure on waking but attributes this to poor sleep.

 Neurological examination is grossly normal, though visual confrontation is slightly unreliable on the left. Fundoscopy is attempted but abandoned due to patient discomfort, leaving the optic disc incompletely visualised.

 Two manual clinic blood pressure readings, taken 10 minutes apart, are 184/118 mmHg and 176/122 mmHg.

 The GP is uncertain whether this represents severe hypertension requiring emergency assessment or whether outpatient evaluation is acceptable.

According to NICE NG136, what is the most appropriate next step?