Two ways to book your MRI

🩺 Reserve with a GP Pre-Test Review — £25 Half the standard £50 GP rate

A 10-minute phone consultation with one of our GPs before your scan — to confirm an MRI is the right investigation for you, choose the right scan type, and answer your questions. £25 secures your booking today; the scan price is then paid at the clinic on the day.

Total if you proceed: £25 today + your scan price at the clinic

[Reserve — £25]

💳 Pay in full today — booking fee waived

Already decided? Select your MRI type above and pay in full now. The £25 booking fee is waived, your GP Pre-Test Review is included, and there's nothing more to pay at the clinic.

Saves £25 versus the Reserve route.

[Add to Cart] · [Buy Now]

Every scan, blood test, and screen at Northwest Health is reviewed by a GP first — both paths include the same Pre-Test Review.

MRI Scans

MRI uses a powerful magnet and radio waves — no radiation — to produce remarkably detailed images of the soft tissues, joints, brain, spine, and organs. Painless and non-invasive, scans take 15–45 minutes. A consultant radiologist reports every study, helping you take the right next step quickly.

A GP referral is required for all MRI scans at Northwest Health. A GP Pre-Test Review is included in every booking to ensure the scan is clinically appropriate, justified, and interpreted in the proper context.

Choosing your scan

1 Area, 2 Areas, Silver (3 Areas), Gold (4 Areas), Platinum (5 Areas) — for whole-body and multi-region imaging. The more areas covered, the more comprehensive the screen.
Breast MRI — high-resolution imaging for breast tissue, often used alongside or after mammography.
Multiparametric Prostate MRI — detailed prostate imaging used in cancer assessment and active surveillance.
Cardiac MRI — dynamic imaging of the heart muscle, valves, and great vessels.
Small Bowel MRI (MR enterography) — specialised imaging of the small intestine, used in suspected inflammatory bowel disease and related conditions.

If you're unsure which scan is right for you, choose the £25 GP Pre-Test Review — your GP will help you decide on the call.

What is an MRI?

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is one of the most detailed forms of medical imaging available today. Unlike X-ray or CT, MRI uses no ionising radiation — it combines a powerful magnetic field with radio waves to build clear, three-dimensional pictures of the soft tissues, organs, joints, and structures inside your body.

Because MRI shows soft tissue with such precision, it's often the scan of choice for the brain and spine, joints and ligaments, the abdomen and pelvis, blood vessels, and many cancers. It can pick up changes that don't show on other forms of imaging — a disc pressing on a nerve, an early ligament tear, an inflamed joint, a subtle liver lesion — and does so without radiation, making it well-suited to repeat imaging over time.

How the scan works

You lie on a padded table that slides into a cylindrical magnet. The scanner sends short pulses of radio energy through the area being examined and records the signals your tissues send back; a computer turns these into detailed cross-sectional images.

A typical scan takes 15 to 45 minutes. The machine is noisy, so you'll be given headphones or earplugs and, often, music. You'll need to lie still, but you can speak to the radiographer through an intercom and hold a call button if you need to stop.

Is it safe?

MRI is very safe for most patients — no radiation, no known long-term effects from the magnetic field. You'll complete a safety questionnaire before your appointment to check for pacemakers, certain implants, metal fragments, cochlear implants, or recent surgery involving metal (including procedures abroad). If MRI isn't suitable for you, we'll talk you through alternatives.

If you're pregnant, particularly in the first trimester, MRI is performed only when clinically necessary. Some scans use a contrast dye (gadolinium) — you'll be screened for kidney function and allergies first.

What to expect on the day

Wear loose clothing without metal zips; jewellery, watches, hearing aids, and removable dental work should be left in a locker. If you have claustrophobia, let us know in advance — we can offer breathing techniques, mild sedation where appropriate, or refer you for a wide-bore MRI.

After the scan

No after-effects — you can drive, eat, work, and exercise as normal. A GMC-registered consultant radiologist reviews every study and produces a written report, sent securely to you and your private GP within a few working days, sooner for urgent cases.

Clinical follow-up

A follow-up consultation is available from £50 (phone or video) or £80 (in-clinic) to discuss findings, plan treatment, or arrange referral. Urgent results are communicated promptly at no additional charge.

Book your scan

Use the two booking options at the top of this page, or contact us to discuss which scan is right for you.

Northwest Health is registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission..