Cost of MRI scan?

[Energize]

I was wondering if anyone here knew what the cost of an MRI of the lower back and neck/shoulders would cost and how long the waiting list would be I live in the NW BTW.

 

[Energize]

I was in a car accident and physio said I probably have damaged ligaments and I have been having lower back problems and severe pain at times. The chances of getting an MRI on the nhs are slim I imagine and I don't want to wait centuries for it, besides the insurance company may cover the cost of it eventually its just a cash flow issue, 500 quid is no problem though.

 

[Energize]

Its not just going to be 500 quid - you'll likely need to go see an Orthopod first for a consultation, get him/her to send you for an MRI then have a followup appointment with them...

consultation fees could be 150+ for each of those appointments

and then what do you want - presuming the MRI shows something that could require treatment are you going to pay in cash for that too?

I'm not sure you can mix and match here - AFAIK either you use the NHS or you don't, don't think you can't just pay for an MRI/consultation and then ask your NHS GP to refer you to an NHS consultant and bring with you the MRI/diagnosis you paid for privately

I think you can mix and match, it saves the NHS money if you pay for a private scan from an NHS consultant after all. Once I was treated as a private patient on the NHS and had a CT scan!

I'm already undergoing private physio treatment arranged by the insurance, an MRI would be a treatment aid if nothing else. If anything else did need doing after the scan insurance would pay for it.

 

[Energize]

The only way it would be fair is if the NHS only allow the use of private scans if the patient is then made to wait the same amount of time they would have had to wait if the scan was done on the NHS!

Otherwise people with money are cue jumping which is not cool or fair and completely against the whole FREE health care ethos imho.

We don't have free health care, ~18% of tax goes towards the NHS, so someone earning the average wage pays ~£1,100 per year towards the NHS out of their income tax even if they don't use it, VAT increases that amount further. And prescription charges make the NHS another £120,000,000 profit a year. Dentists and opticians are pretty much all private these days.

And why on earth would anyone go private if they had to wait the same amount of time? That totally defeats the point in going private.

By a patient going private the NHS saves a lot of money, possibly as much £1,000 in my case. This benefits NHS patients. It makes sense.

 

[Energize]

I will be asking for a referral to an NHS consultant but it depends on how long I have to wait, for an injury like this an MRI needs to be done ASAP to document the damage for legal purposes if nothing else. I can't wait up to 8 weeks, during which time much of my injuries may heal. The physio also would need to see the scans and I have about 8 more sessions left.

 

[Energize]

Your physio most likely change their practice due to the scans and therefore the only reason you seem to want this scan done seems is for litigious reasons. In which case the amount you will get most likely won't really be that significant when you are yourself admitting the damage will have healed in such a short time frame.

I've been told the damage will take months to heal fully and the settlement estimate is in the mid 4 figures at the moment, the majority will probably come from psychological issues rather than physical ones though. The physio was the one who suggested the MRI in the first place as it will allow her to determine the best course of treatment if she knows how badly damaged my ligaments are, going full on can cause a lot of pain so until I get some strong opioids and imaging done, treatment is more limited. The earlier the scan is done however, the more damage it will show which has legal advantages.

In all honesty though I just have to know why I've been having lower back pains all these years with some neuropathic pain, if insurance will pay for an MRI scan due to my injuries from the car crash, so much the better really. But health comes before money and I would personally pay for a lower back MRI. The compo will more than cover it if insurance doesn't.

 

[Energize]

If your physio is saying it will guide her treatment then it's her responsibility to request and refer not yours. If she is not allowed to request an MRI then she needs to request that the person who referred you to her does so.

As to your second part I would not be totally sure an MRI would give you the answer you are necessarily looking for.

The referral to her was from a solicitor, I don't know whether she's allowed to refer for an MRI, I hadn't considered that possibility.

 

[Energize]

I would be suspicious of any practitioner I was referred to from a solicitor. Not that this is anything against solicitors at all they are rather good at what they do and what they are trained to do. However, they are not trained to determine what the best course of action is for a client's health.

They are fully qualified physios, if that's what you mean, for what that counts for anyway, they have to be in order to supply admissible medical data to the insurance companies for the claim.

 

[Energize]

After inquiring with the clinic they said they could send me for an MRI scan without the need to see a consultant and the cost in my case would be around 500, no need for an extra person to interpret the scan. They said my appointment would typically be within a week which is great news. Even if I have to pay for it out of my own pocket I'm happy.

 

[Energize]

The benefits of not going to Harley St! Hope it gives you that answers you are after.

There are times when even I am glad I live in the North West.

Whether it will be done in Lancaster, or I will have to go to Preston I don't know yet though, just depends on when the best time slots are I guess. £7 train ticket will be reimbursed by insurance anyway.