MRI and CT Wait and Results Times: UK, Canada and China
Published
“…given an urgent referral to a consultant surgeon. Surgeon appt day 7, MRI day 12, MRI results day 21, surgery day 26. … NHS MRI would have been on day 28, 2 days after my private surgery was held.”
In one line
In England about one in five people waiting for an MRI had waited six weeks or more in July 2026, and Canada's median MRI wait was 18.1 weeks; China publishes no waiting statistic, but patients often describe results within hours to a day.
The China side is patient reports, not data. The written report can arrive later than the images, and the hospital should confirm your scan date before you book travel.
That timeline came from paying privately in the UK, and even then the results arrived nine days after the scan. For most people the wait is not the scan itself but everything around it: the referral, the booking, the report and the appointment to discuss it. This guide sets out what official data says about MRI and CT waits in England and Canada, what patients in China describe, and what to confirm before you travel for a scan.
How long is the wait for an NHS MRI for back pain or a knee injury?
There is no separate national figure for back or knee scans, but across all MRI scans in England, 21.4% of people on the waiting list had waited six weeks or more at the end of July 2026, according to NHS England's diagnostic waiting times statistics (DM01). The standard is that fewer than 1% should wait that long.
Across all 15 key diagnostic tests, 443,200 people, or 23.1% of the 1,915,300 on the list, had waited six weeks or more. These figures count the wait from referral to the test. They do not include the time it takes to get the referral in the first place, or the wait for a follow-up appointment to discuss the result, which many patients say is the longer part.
Private scanning is the usual alternative. One private imaging provider advertises next-day appointments and results within 24 to 48 hours (2026), and a 2026 price guide puts a private MRI of one body part at roughly GBP 249–750. Whether your NHS team will act on a private scan is a separate question, so ask your GP before you pay.
How long does it take to get a CT or MRI scan in Canada?
In Canada the median wait was 18.1 weeks for an MRI and 8.8 weeks for a CT scan, according to the Fraser Institute's 2025 Waiting Your Turn report. Ultrasound was 5.4 weeks. The MRI wait varied widely by province, from 12.0 weeks in Ontario and Quebec to 52.0 weeks in Prince Edward Island.
Official data points the same way. The Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that the median MRI wait grew by 15 days between 2019 and 2024, and the CT wait by 3 days. The Fraser figures come from a survey of physicians, so treat them as an estimate rather than an administrative count. We found no national imaging wait figure for Australia.
Waiting for an MRI or CT scan
| Where | MRI | CT | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| England (NHS) | 21.4% had waited 6+ weeks | 9.9% had waited 6+ weeks | NHS England DM01, July 2026 |
| Canada | Median 18.1 weeks (12.0–52.0 by province) | Median 8.8 weeks | Fraser Institute physician survey, 2025 |
| Australia | No national figure found | No national figure found | Not published |
| China (public hospitals) | No official figure; patients report hours to a day | No official figure; patients report hours to a day | Patient reports |
How long do CT and MRI results take?
Once the scan is done, the timing depends on how quickly a radiologist writes the report and how soon you see the doctor who ordered it. The scan takes a short time; the report and the follow-up appointment take longer.
In UK private care, one provider advertises results within 24 to 48 hours. In NHS care, the report usually goes to the doctor who referred you, and you hear the result at your next appointment. We found no official national figure for reporting times in the UK, Canada or Australia.
In China, patients describe results within hours at many public hospitals, but timing varies by hospital and by department.
“Had an MRI on my leg today, and it was fine. … Results come out fairly quickly here: they were ready two hours after the scan.”
“It depends on the hospital; some are a bit quicker, some slower. … The slip said the result would take 24 hours, and even at the fastest it is more than ten hours. The emergency department is quicker: results come out in two to four hours there.”
One detail catches people out. The images and the written report do not always arrive together. Many hospitals release the images first, as printed film or a phone link, and the signed paper report can follow later.
“The films are out, but the paper report takes two weeks. I don't know if the neurologist will look at them?”
For planned checkups the timing is longer. A public tertiary hospital in Beijing states that a full checkup report takes 7–8 working days and a pre-employment check 3 working days. If you are flying in for a short stay, ask how long the written report takes and whether a doctor will review the images before it is ready.
How long does it take to get a CT or MRI at a hospital in China?
There is no official statistic for how quickly a CT or MRI can be booked in China, so we cannot promise a same-day or next-day scan. What patients describe is a fast, pay-as-you-go process at public hospitals: you register, see a doctor who orders the scan, pay, and go to radiology. Many say they finish on the same day or the next.
Agencies and blogs sometimes claim same-day or next-day scans in international departments, but those are marketing claims, not data. In reality it depends on the hospital, the body part, whether contrast is needed and how busy radiology is that week. Ultrasound follows a similar pattern. Hospitals confirm the date before you book, so get that confirmation in writing before you buy flights.
Cost is rarely the obstacle. After the national radiology price reform of 2024–25, a public-hospital MRI costs about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75) and a CT about CNY 200 (≈ USD 30) in many provinces, according to Xinhua (May 2025). Foreign patients pay the full listed price, and international departments charge more.
Before you book a scan in China
- Ask the hospital to confirm the scan date in writing, and whether you need to see one of its doctors first.
- Say which body part you need scanned and whether your home doctor wants contrast.
- Ask how long the written report takes, and whether an English version is available.
- Ask for the full images on a disc or USB in DICOM format, as well as the printed report.
- Bring any earlier scans from home so the doctor can compare.
- Leave a spare day in your plans in case radiology is busy.
Can you get an MRI through urgent care or the emergency room?
Usually only if the doctor there believes it is urgent. Emergency departments scan to rule out problems that need treatment now, such as sudden weakness, loss of bladder or bowel control, or a serious injury. For pain that has built up over weeks, they will normally send you back to your own doctor for a routine referral.
If your doctor will not order an MRI, ask what they expect it to change and what would make them order one. That conversation often explains the decision better than trying to go around it. If you still want a scan, the alternatives are a private scan at home or a scan abroad as part of a planned visit. In each case, make sure a doctor will go through the result with you, because a scan without a plan rarely helps.
Waiting weeks or months for an MRI or CT? Here is the queue at home, and the China route
In England, 21.4% of people waiting for an MRI had waited six weeks or more in July 2026, against a standard of under 1%. In Canada the median MRI wait is 18.1 weeks. At Chinese public hospitals an MRI costs about CNY 500 (≈ USD 75). There is no official waiting-time statistic for China, so we get your scan date confirmed by 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.