Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

£5 a scan picture?!

168 replies

CSISaraSidle · 05/07/2018 18:32

I was at my ultrasound scan the other day and decided I'd quite like a picture. When my mum had me she got it in a lovely little card thing with corner cutouts to hold it. It was very sweet, and I assumed mine would be the same!
When I was handed a tear off printout that had been torn badly and was told "that'll be £5, please pay at this machine" I was a little Shock!

OP posts:
SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 05/07/2018 18:45

Ive never been charged for any of mine! (I have 3 DC born in 2 different hospitals with 11 years between my oldest and youngest a.) I didn't even know this was a thing!

doublehelix · 05/07/2018 18:46

Pretty cheap compared with photos on roller coasters or school photos or even worse dance show photos.

Sometimes the NHS being free stops us seeing it's true value. The essentials are free. The frills are not.

NorfolkEnchance · 05/07/2018 18:46

10 each in Coventry!

Pompom42 · 05/07/2018 18:46

When I went to my 2nd scan she asked if I wanted a pic. I realised I'd forgotten my purse, I was gutted as I really wanted the pic to show to the sibling for the announcement and she kindly gave me a pic for nothing. I was so grateful, it truly made my day.

KneesupGaston · 05/07/2018 18:47

Mine were free, and there was a little cardboard frame for it in my Bounty pack 🤷🏻‍♀️

Elasticity · 05/07/2018 18:47

Tory Britain

Rainatnight · 05/07/2018 18:47

When we adopted DD, from the local authority care system, a medical was part of the assessment, and we had to pay for it ourselves, at our GPs. It was £100 EACH for me and DP.

I don't think a fiver for a scan picture is bad at all.

Thesearmsofmine · 05/07/2018 18:48

They are £5 here. FIL is an ex radiographer/sonographer and says they cost pence to produce.

Having said that I don’t mind paying for them but would prefer it if it said x % of the cost is towards a baby charity or similar.

BertieBotts · 05/07/2018 18:48

It was £6 for me in 2008 but they gave me three at a time.

I don't mind making a token payment TBH, you still get to see the scan regardless.

I did get the impression it was a bit of a token exercise though as it probably doesn't cost them very much to make the printout.

Original poster
CSISaraSidle · 05/07/2018 18:49

Honestly if they had a machine that you could donate money to alleviate the burden that prenatal ultrasounds put on the NHS I'd definitely donate more than just £5! I think it was probably just that the cost was attached to the picture that surprised me, especially since the sinographer had accidentally torn it and given it to me anyways. Although it was just torn on the top part, didn't actually affect the baby part of the image.

OP posts:
Lindy2 · 05/07/2018 18:49

Our hospital charges about the same amount. It seems quite fair to me. The covering letter detailing the scan appointment had details of the fee and said to bring the right change.
I also had a 6 week scan and was given that print off at no charge as they only charge the fee for the standard 12 and 20 week scans.

DitheringBlidiot · 05/07/2018 18:49

www.google.co.uk/search?q=scan+photo+frame&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari&dlnr=1&sei=y1k-W7PuOcqRkwWjq4XQBQ Could you buy yourself a frame if it means so much to you? £5 doesn’t seem that much for a picture that doesn’t need to really exist and shouldn’t be paid for out of the public purse.

TheOxymoron · 05/07/2018 18:51

The picture isn’t a necessity and for those that say it’s a huge cost to the would be parent, call it “welcome to parenthood”.
Over inflated costs exist everywhere for parents.

Original poster
CSISaraSidle · 05/07/2018 18:51

Exactly, Thesearms, I'd have been less shocked if she'd told me that the proceeds went to continuing to provide free ultrasound scans on the NHS. I love the NHS and would support it to my dying breath, but I think a little transparency goes a long way!

OP posts:
PerryPerryThePlatypus · 05/07/2018 18:51

Giving you a card to put it in would be extremely insensitive to mums in the waiting room waiting on bad news scans. When I had mine we were advised to put the picture in our bag and look at it at home.

MarmiteAndCheeseRolls · 05/07/2018 18:51

Ours were 5 each or 4 for £15.. 8 for £20
They gave us loads extra too as wernt the best images.

TheFairyCaravan · 05/07/2018 18:53

I had my kids in 94 & 96. We had to pay for our scan pictures and they were just handed to us, no folder or anything.

Tbh I didn’t care. The NHS was struggling back then to.

Original poster
CSISaraSidle · 05/07/2018 18:54

I don't really care, now that I've had a think about it. I care about free medical care being available to everyone and now that I've seen that scan pictures contribute to that future, I can't say I even have a complaint! Iwbu!

OP posts:
ProseccoPoppy · 05/07/2018 18:55

In Bath they are £15 (you usually get 3 or 4 for that) but they do tell you that on the scan appointment letter.

NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking · 05/07/2018 18:55

I don’t mind paying it at all... but I wish they’d change the set up in my local hospital.

My last pregnancy I turned up for my 12 week scan, (having already seen the heart beat at an earlier scan). The machine was on the way in so you pay and get your slip before the scan.

After the scan, where it transpired I’d lost the baby.. they gave me a refund. I think the payment could be done after the scan to avoid that.. it was just another layer of unpleasantness 😬

craftymum01 · 05/07/2018 18:55

Ours are £2 per picture, but our hospital are really nice in that if they thing the photo isn't clear or showing a perfect position they will wave the fee.

ProseccoPoppy · 05/07/2018 18:55

And huge congratulations OP - hope everything goes smoothly Flowers

lifechangesforever · 05/07/2018 18:55

Mine were £8 but the NHS has better things to pay for than photo paper.

Apehouse · 05/07/2018 18:55

The scan is meant to be funded by the NHS, which should not try to recoup its costs by forcing people to pay way over the odds for what is in fact an element of their medical file. The fee for a copy of medical records, by law, should not exceed the cost of making said copy.

BigPinkBall · 05/07/2018 18:57

Our local hospital charges £5 and they were really clear it had to be 5 x £1 coins and they wouldn’t accept notes and then when we got there they refused the money and gave us 3 prints for free, ours came in a little card too but it was an advertising thing.

The sonographer also told me not to keep it near the radiator or window because it’s not like a photograph and direct sunlight and heat will damage it.