Guide
Should you pay for a private scan rather than private treatment?
The decision most people think they face is whether to pay five figures for an operation. The decision many actually make is whether to pay a few hundred pounds to find out what is wrong.
A private MRI costs £470 to £625 in Scotland. A CT scan is around £650, an ultrasound £330, and a first consultant appointment £191 to £275. So a consultation and a scan together is roughly £700 to £900 — an order of magnitude below the cost of surgery.
What it buys
Information. A diagnosis establishes how serious a problem is, and clinical urgency is what determines priority on an NHS list. Several people have described paying privately for imaging, taking the results back to the NHS, and being treated sooner as a result.
It is not a route past a queue and should not be described as one. A scan does not change your position by itself.
What it doesn't buy
Any guarantee. Whether a private result is accepted, and what happens next, is a matter for your GP and your health board.
Nor is it always faster. NHS diagnostic waits vary enormously — some boards see people for a scan within a fortnight, others take months. Where you live decides whether this is worth considering at all.
Scan prices also exclude the consultant appointment needed to refer you and to interpret the result, which is the £191 to £275 above.
If a symptom might be serious, see your GP rather than pricing this up. Urgent NHS pathways for suspected cancer are measured in weeks and are often faster than anything you can buy.
Want the figures for your own health board? Compare waits and prices where you live — free, like everything else here. There is also a paid report that assembles all of it for one board and specialty.