Should I pay privately for an MRI?

[Twin4Life]

So, recently I paid for my sister to see a gynecologist privately, because she is in so much pain and waiting for an NHS appointment was getting ridiculous. (It took her GP 6 months of begging and numerous appointments to refer her to gynecology. Then after 2 months of waiting for an appointment, my sister called the hospital she had been referred to, and was told it would be at least a year until she got an appointment. She waited for another 4 months, but was just getting worse and worse, so I made the private appointment despite the cost.)

The gynecologist was unable to examine her much as she has vaginismus. But, she said she wanted her to get an MRI to check for endometriosis or any other issues that might be causing her pain and other symptoms. Now I have two choices. I can either pay over 800 pounds for a private MRI, or I can try get the referral sent to my sister's GP to try and get it done through the. NHS. Honestly, I don't know what to do.

On the one hand, a private MRI is going to cost a fortune. On the other hand, I have seen many posts saying the NHS has inexperienced staff performing and reading the results of MRIs, ultrasounds, and etc, and that people have been told their scans are normal when they are not. And, that they have only been able to get an accurate diagnosis when they saw someone privately. Should I just pay for a private MRI? Or should I risk going through the NHS?

What is your advice?

[Astro22]

I also went private for some things (actually urged to do it by the gp because of how bad the wait times are!), and like your sister had the same issue with vaginismus making things like internal scans a no-go. I'm not an expert beyond my own experience (in NI, so it might be different where you are!) but I'd say it might depend on where you're getting that private MRI from. I believe England has some endo experts, but here, for example, we don't have any to my knowledge. I paid £600 for an MRI with no results, which I've heard isn't even out of the ordinary for endo sufferers. MRIs are just better at catching it than internal scans, but not necessarily high if the staff don't know what they're looking for, which can happen with endo outside the NHS here too. The only upside there is you can consent to the scans being sent to the NHS, so it can cut out some time because they have those on file to look at (from what I've been told - I haven't got there yet either).

I'd recommend checking some reviews of the clinic and see if you can find out what their track record with finding and diagnosing endometriosis is, if possible, or even seeing if anyone on this or any other forum has experience with the place. Whether your sister should go for it anyway is hard to judge from an outsider perspective, but hopefully you should have at least some more information to help make your decision - depending on how helpful the GP is (not very, if it took that long to take action for your sister), it might be worth at least discussing with them or another doctor to at least get an idea of what that MRI wait time is.

I wish I could be more in-depth, but as someone who also went through private in a similar process and had nothing to show for it, I felt like I should at least weigh in. It might be worth getting it done sooner rather than later to be extra sure there aren't any other problems that at least can be addressed and help your sister get some quality of life back, but if she needs to find endo only the chances might not be high regardless. I hope someone more knowledgable is able to answer you on that. Wishing you and your sister all the best in the meantime.

[ClaudiaGrace]

Hey, such a tough one. I would definitely say it depends on the scanner rather than nhs vs private though, I took part in a study ran by a somographer and she said quality varies hugely in both. I have found the most accurate scan I had was actually a private ultrasound and would strongly recommend. I’ll private message you the hospital. I know people seem to favour MRI but this was the most thorough and accurate scan I had so again I think it’s down to expertise rather than the type of scan.