Private MRI scans - anyone had one?

Doodledog

The two things are totally different. Of course people can spend their money on holidays, gin or sausages if that’s what they want to do - none of those things impacts on anyone else. Private medical treatment in NHS hospitals does affect others though. Unless you see a privately trained doctor in a privately funded clinic with privately owned equipment, and then are referred to another privately trained doctor in a private hospital then you are taking the place of someone on the NHS, who may be more seriously ill than you are.

I don’t necessarily blame people for doing so, as the Tories have ravaged the NHS and health is important, but at least be honest about it? It’s not like travelling business class - it is queue jumping.

I don't believe the two things to be totally different at all.

We pay privately for tests and scans if we must wait too long, they own their own non-NHS equipment. We determine timeliness to the wait. In the instances we paid privately the wait was always too long or there were other (unreasonable) reasons why care (say TKR) was not quickly available.

Not queue jumping, imo, to leave and go elsewhere.

Primrose53

My old school friend paid for a private MRI because her GP said “we don’t need to go down that route” when she asked for one. She had had dreadful pains in her neck and arms. She could not move her arms at all. They just would not listen to her. She even burnt her arms with hot water bottles trying to alleviate the pain.
Her husband booked it for a Sunday afternoon and by the next day she sadly had a diagnosis of cancer in her spine, neck and shoulders. She passed away less than 3 months later.
The GP is still working and as arrogant as ever.

We have one like that here - I know of 2 people who have died from being misdiagnosed by the same man - but nobody is doing anything about it!

The first, he kept doing odd things, memory went was seeing the GP over and over. Finally after 2 years he was sent for a scan brain tumour. The second had a cough for 18 months - kept going to GP but often saw the cheaper staff - ie pharmacist and nurse prescriber. Loads of different anti-biotics. Eventually this GP huffed and puffed and sent her for an x-ray - lung cancer, never smoked. Died on 16th December ... wouldn't mind but the surgery keeps on posting adverts like "if you get a change in bowel symptoms/have a cough that goes on for more than 6 weeks etc - come and see us at the surgery", yet you can't get an appointment! Thankfully I am not with this shower and stayed with my previous rural practice when I moved. That practice was the 13th best in the UK, but sadly now has to be grouped with this other one as things changed with the new IHB's I will watch their ratings spiral down in disgust ...