MRI Wait Times in Canada and the UK: Private Options Compared
Published
“… no surgeon would see me due to overload of cases and I could walk so I was bottom of the pile, 3 paid MRIs to avoid waiting over a year each time and finally I had to pay to see a surgeon to get the surgery privately and pay out of pocket.”
In one line
With a median MRI wait of 18.1 weeks in Canada (Fraser Institute, 2025) and 21.4% of England's MRI list waiting over six weeks (NHS England, July 2026), a private scan at home or an MRI at a Chinese public hospital for about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75) are both realistic ways to skip the queue.
There is no reliable statistic on how fast foreign patients are scanned in China, and a trip suits a planned scan, not urgent symptoms. Ask your home doctor first whether they will accept a scan done elsewhere.
Long imaging waits push many people in Canada and the UK to pay for a scan privately, and some look further afield. This guide sets out the published waits for MRI, CT and ultrasound, whether you can get an MRI without a referral, and what a private MRI costs at home compared with a public hospital in China.
How long is the wait for an MRI on the NHS?
In England, about one in five people waiting for an MRI has waited more than six weeks: NHS England's diagnostic statistics for July 2026 show 21.4% of the MRI waiting list past the six-week mark. Across all 15 key diagnostic tests, 443,200 people, or 23.1% of those waiting, had waited six weeks or more, against a standard of under 1%.
The published figures are not broken down by body part, so there is no official NHS wait for a spine MRI as such. In practice your wait depends on how urgent your referral is. Red-flag symptoms are scanned quickly, while a routine scan for long-standing back or knee pain can take much longer, and the wait to see a specialist before or after the scan often adds more time than the scan itself.
“When I booked a private appointment with an ENT it was to avoid the 18month waiting list … On the nhs I got a 3 minutes consultation, after 12 months wait … said will redo the mri, for which I received the letter 9 months later and results 5 months later.”
How long is the wait for an MRI in Canada?
The median wait for an MRI in Canada was 18.1 weeks, according to the Fraser Institute's 2025 Waiting Your Turn report, ranging from 12.0 weeks in Ontario and Quebec to 52.0 weeks in Prince Edward Island. The same report puts the overall median wait from GP referral to treatment at 28.6 weeks. The Canadian Institute for Health Information uses a different method but points the same way: its 2025 report found the median MRI wait in 2024 was 15 days longer than in 2019.
Published imaging waits
| Test | Canada (Fraser Institute, 2025) | England (NHS DM01, July 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| MRI | Median 18.1 weeks; 12.0 (ON/QC) to 52.0 weeks (PEI) | 21.4% waiting 6+ weeks |
| CT | Median 8.8 weeks | 9.9% waiting 6+ weeks |
| Ultrasound | Median 5.4 weeks | No separate figure in our sources |
| All key tests | 28.6 weeks median, GP referral to treatment | 443,200 people (23.1%) waiting 6+ weeks |
Private MRI exists in some provinces, such as Alberta, but you usually still need a requisition from a doctor, and the scan is only the first step: you still need a specialist to read the result with you and decide what comes next.
The two countries measure waits differently, so compare the direction rather than the exact numbers. We found no national statistic on imaging waits in Australia.
How long is the wait for a CT scan, an ultrasound or a PET scan?
CT and ultrasound waits are shorter than MRI waits in both countries. In England, 9.9% of people on the CT waiting list had waited six weeks or more in July 2026. In Canada, the Fraser Institute's 2025 medians were 8.8 weeks for CT and 5.4 weeks for ultrasound. Our sources give an Ontario figure for MRI only, not for ultrasound, so we cannot quote a provincial ultrasound wait.
We found no published national wait for PET scans in our sources. A PET scan is usually ordered by a cancer or specialist team to stage or monitor a known problem, so it moves on that team's timetable. It is not a checkup test, and it is not something to arrange abroad on your own.
Can you get an MRI without a doctor's referral?
It depends on the country: in the US some imaging centres accept self-referred patients who pay cash, in the UK some private providers accept self-referral for certain scans, and in Canada you generally need a requisition, even for a private scan.
“In Canada, you cannot just get a MRI like that. You need a doctor's requisition form to get a MRI done. … My mom who has severe sciatica has been requesting for a MRI for months and her family doctor flatly refused.”
In the UK, a private scan can move things along, but it does not always replace the NHS route. Some NHS clinicians accept a private scan; others ask for their own. Ask your GP or consultant before you pay whether they will use the result.
“GP said it was osteoarthritis. I paid for a private MRI scan and it showed a meniscus flap tear as well as ligament damage … Thus got me a referral to a NHS knee surgeon.”
In China, an MRI at a public hospital is ordered through an outpatient consultation or comes inside a checkup package. A consultation at a Beijing tertiary public hospital costs CNY 50 (≈ USD 7) to CNY 100 (≈ USD 15) depending on the doctor's seniority (Beijing Health Commission), and the doctor decides which scan answers your question. We found no reliable statistic on how quickly foreign patients are scanned in China. Claims of same-day scanning come from agencies, not official data, so we do not repeat them.
What does a private MRI cost, and what does it cost in China?
A private MRI of one body part costs roughly 249–750 GBP in the UK, 675–1,000 CAD at private clinics in Alberta and 300–800 USD at a US imaging centre, while a public hospital in China charges about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75). In the US, hospital outpatient departments charge 1,200–3,500 USD or more, and Healthcare Bluebook puts the average out-of-pocket cost at about 1,325 USD (GoodRx, 2025–26).
Self-pay MRI prices (local currency, as published)
| Where | Typical price | Higher end or example | Source type |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | GBP 249–750 per body part | Spire GBP 365–630; Nuffield from GBP 375 | Price guide, 2026 |
| Canada (Alberta) | CAD 675–850 | CAD 1,000 with contrast | Clinic price lists, 2025 |
| USA | USD 300–800 (imaging centre) | USD 1,200–3,500+ (hospital outpatient) | Cost guide, 2025–26 |
| China (public hospital) | About CNY 500 (≈ USD 75) | Caps: Guangdong CNY 505 (≈ USD 75), Shanghai CNY 430 (≈ USD 64), Anhui CNY 460 (≈ USD 69) | Official media and provincial notices, 2024–25 |
China cut public hospital imaging prices in a national reform in 2024–25. According to Xinhua (May 2025), an MRI now costs about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75), and CT has fallen from over CNY 300 (≈ USD 45) to about CNY 200 (≈ USD 30) in some provinces. Provincial caps for a plain MRI include CNY 505 (≈ USD 75) in Guangdong, CNY 430 (≈ USD 64) at Shanghai tertiary hospitals and CNY 460 (≈ USD 69) in Anhui. Contrast and extra body areas cost more, and these caps change often. Foreign patients pay the full listed price, and international departments charge more than the public list.
If you want a wider check, a scan can sit inside a checkup. At Hangzhou First People's Hospital, the top package at CNY 6,880–7,723 (≈ USD 1,050–1,150) includes CT, an MRI of the head plus one other area, tumour markers, blood tests and other examinations.
A trip only makes sense for a planned scan. If you have new or worsening symptoms, such as weakness, numbness or problems with bladder or bowel control, use your local urgent route. Before travelling, agree the clinical question with a doctor, take the images as well as the report, and remember that reports in China are written in Chinese, so your home doctor will need a translation.
Waiting months for an MRI or a scan? Here is what the queue looks like, and the China route
In England, 21.4% of people waiting for an MRI had waited six weeks or more in July 2026. In Canada the median MRI wait is 18.1 weeks. At Chinese public hospitals an MRI is priced at about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75), and we confirm a date with the hospital before you book flights.
Check available dates →USD amounts converted at about CNY 6.70 per USD (2026-10-07), for reference only. Foreign patients pay the full listed price.