Wanted: MRI scan

InHealth Netcare manage most of the inner London diagnostics. Turn around at the moment once you are referred for one is anything from 10 days up to 6 weeks. Your GP can refer you directly in most boroughs which will speed things up, otherwise you may get sent to Ortho / Physio first.

It's important to note that MRI's will find 'abnormal' things even in non-symptomatic patients and should not be used in isolation to decide upon management.

haha! not to mention really boring.

*being scanned is really boring.

Have a look at the intitute of phsyciatry web site at kings... I used to go in the scanner a bit when I worked there - they're always after controls.... actually they mainly do your head and make you look at disturbing faces. Forgot it. I'm daft. None of this helps.

*being scanned is really boring.

makes a wicked sound though, sounds like some sort of abstract techno

*being scanned is really boring.

i actually found it pretty fun, and i was allowed to continue to chew my gum while being scanned :)

Check your health care policy at work you will still need a referral letter from work. I had the same problem a few months back and went through this route.

i actually found it pretty fun, and i was allowed to continue to chew my gum while being scanned :)

They weren't scanning your head then?

It depends on the nature of the injury.. I had an brain MRI in less than 24 hours.. but I guess the impending death thing kinda warranted it.

I got one less than six hours (time is an estimate - see end of sentence) after being hit by a taxi, knocked out and losing my memory of the previous two months. Maybe that's the way to go Wayne - get a really severe head injury and while you're in the machine ask them to do your back as well? Fast and free!

I'm sure the London General Practice will do same day, but it wont be cheap - from memory my ankle scan was approx £1,500 and the magnetic field made my broken bones vibrate... if interested you will need a referral

I used Vista Diagnostics at Waterloo. (http://www.vistadiagnostics.co.uk/)
You need to be referred by your Physio/Osteo/Doctor/etc.
You won't find a cheaper commercial service in London according to my referrer!

good luck!

I should add given the various other things mentioned that I was done:

• same day
  
• for more than 200, but less than 400!
  
• walked away with a CD of the results and instructions on how to view it.
  
• a copy of the CD was sent to my referrer.
  
  

2 days later a report came from Professor x who had analysed the results.

all in all very very good and highly recommended. I will use them again if i need such a service, i'm not waiting 3 months+ for one on the NHS.

They weren't scanning your head then?

no, my lower stomach, the noises it makes are great, like being in Star Wars lol.

£400? had an MRI for about £60 few years ago. that was in philippines tho. they're cheap down there. had artists sketch out the results on the spot.

have you had an xray? most of the time that's enough to show what's wrong and where

This is completely serious advice here, no forum sarcasm.

Ask your doctor to fill out a suspected cancer form and have them fax it to your hospital.

You'll be in a machine within a few days.

£400? had an MRI for about £60 few years ago. that was in philippines tho. they're cheap down there. had artists sketch out the results on the spot.

have you had an xray? most of the time that's enough to show what's wrong and where

Xray doesn't show the soft tissues well enough, CT scans also aren't ideal.

"MRI scans give greater detail of tissue structures of the brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal system than CT, without exposing the patient to large doses of ionising radiation."

£400 is bearable for an MRI here in .uk (as you can see by the mentions of £800+ in this thread!)

Either way, it's up to the 'health professional' that refers you as to what you have. In my case MRI was the requirement, Xray was not wanted.

Your GP is likely talking rubbish. All NHS secondary care trusts have a responsibility to provide diagnosis AND treatment within 18 weeks of GP referral. That means that, for example, if you did have a slipped disc, the hospital you were referred to by your GP would have a responsibility to give you a specialist appointment and scan AND operation within 18 weeks. I'm sure you could see how this wouldn't work if it took 18 weeks just to get the scan.

Your GP may just be trying to fob you off a little - 60% of acute disc herniations will show significant improvement (i.e. not need surgery) within three months, and there is certainly an argument for not performing a scan until that time has passed, as for 60% of people that would be a wasted scan. The debate as to whether or not acute disc herniations should be operated on immediately or given a period of observation prior to operation is a subject of debate amongst surgeons (I say this as someone with moderate degree of experience in the management of spinal conditions), but horrific as the pain of a disc herniation is, chances are it will get better.

If you REALLY feel you need a scan (i.e. the discomfort/disability induced by the condition is so severe that you you would rather have an early spinal operation, rather than wait-and-see, with a good chance of spontaneous recovery), I would ask your GP to refer you for an urgent scan, and if he were unwilling to do so, ask to see another one of the GPs in the practice who would be likely to - another observation I have made is that it is quite easy to "bully" doctors in to ordering what, in their mind, is an unnecessary investigation - this is often easier with more senior doctors, who just can't be bothered to argue and don't want any trouble.

PS: this advice is NOT a substitute for a proper medical consultation - if you have worries about the advice you've been given by your GP, GET A SECOND OPINION.

Xray doesn't show the soft tissues well enough, CT scans also aren't ideal.

"MRI scans give greater detail of tissue structures of the brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal system than CT, without exposing the patient to large doses of ionising radiation."

£400 is bearable for an MRI here in .uk (as you can see by the mentions of £800+ in this thread!)

Either way, it's up to the 'health professional' that refers you as to what you have. In my case MRI was the requirement, Xray was not wanted.

+1 on the soft tissue comment.

The £800 is the fee charged to AXA by spire roding private hospital in redbridge, and the Palmer Hospital in Chelsea. Don't know if prices differ if you pay on the spot or includes the specialists opinion on the MRI.

I got one less than six hours (time is an estimate - see end of sentence) after being hit by a taxi, knocked out and losing my memory of the previous two months. Maybe that's the way to go Wayne - get a really severe head injury and while you're in the machine ask them to do your back as well? Fast and free!

I'm ignoring Ealing hospital's incompetence, the others scans, the misdiagnosis, the ambulance ride to Charing Cross and the surgery prior to it. Now I get them regularly. Maybe I can sneak BDW into my next one?