Where can i get an MRI scan privately in London?!

[Bigkingdom]

So my 2 year old daughter has had ongoing issues. She has now developed a squint and cried in the morning that her head hurts. My GP is not taking me seriously and seems to fob me off, took her to A&E yesterday as she cried with headache in the morning and was told its because she is tired! Why isn’t anyone taking me seriously?!

I want her to have an MRI scan but cannot find anywhere that will do one for a child.

It's entirely reasonable to be worried about your child when symptoms seem concerning. Did you specifically mention brain tumours as a worry when you took your child to see doctors? Did you receive an explanation you found reassuring?

Frequently with children, time is one of the most important investigations, to see how the symptoms evolve. If the headache persists it would be entirely proper to see the GP again for a review within the next few days. This is a better route into the system than going privately for investigations for most circumstances involving children. All the services for care of children's brain tumours are within the NHS and the scans / decision making should be done by people with expertise. As has been mentioned it is not trivial to get good images in a child of this age.

HeadSmart (www.headsmart.org.uk) is an excellent resource covering symptoms of brain tumours, aimed at patients and healthcare professionals. If you think the symptoms fit anything described at your review then you can draw their attention to that specific item.

GPs are generally speaking good at managing uncertainty even though their range of experience in specific conditions might be limited - brain tumours are rare in absolute terms. If you are re-attending with the same problem, a worry about a serious diagnosis, and a sensible resources that substantiates your worries, they are likely to either:

a) acknowledge your concerns and recognise a situation requiring shared decision making.
b) feel intimidated and unable to provide sufficient reassurance on their own.

Either way you are quite likely to end up with a referral to a paediatrician if that's what is indicated in this situation (pretty urgently if there are concerning features). If you end up not being referred then you can ask for specific safety netting advice ie "what should I be looking out for, in case it is a tumour"?

If you have specific diagnoses in mind, it's always better to state these (even though that can be scary) rather than hoping that doctors will come to the same conclusion as you're reaching.

I hope that's helpful. I have tried to keep this advice generic as I'm not your doctor.

Main take home for right now is that private scans are not easily arranged, not cheap, and even if they find concerning things need the NHS based system to actually admit and treat - waiting for private things to come through rather than re-presenting when the picture changes can create more delays than it solves. I understand you feel dismissed by the doctors you have seen so far but that doesn't ever mean that a new clinician won't be looking at it with fresh eyes.

For every brain tumour there are hundreds of squints and headaches caused by eye strain. The first step needs to be an optician or eye hospital. That should tell you if she needs glasses (and yes both squint and needing glasses does just appear).

They will also see the back of the eyes etc for eye health.

So i went all the way to specsavers for the eye test appointment only to be told they don’t do children as young as two. So back to the GP i go. Feels like i’m going round in circles and getting no where.

I would ask the GP to refer you to the paediatric opthomology department of your local hospital. My son (3 now) has been under them since he was 3 months old and they have been excellent. They will be able to see if there are any problems with her eyes which are causing headaches.

call a couple of independent opticians.
or are you reasonably close to moorfields (specialist eye hospital in london) moorfields paediatric eye a&e

for an mri you would need to see a private paediatrician (200£) and be referred. with sedation/consultation it would be a cost of at least 2k, easily more.

Great Western Eye Hospital is also an option - near Baker St.

Op have just seen your post. Hope you have some answers now?

2 things -

1. visit a private optician, an independent high street optician. Do not go to specsavers. I was turned away with my son for the same reason he was too young.
   For that reason when my daughter had similar issues to yours I thought the optician would be of no help. High street optician was happy to see her independently and very thorough. They found that she has a cataract. She is still awaiting scans for her brain as she has a weakness on one side of her body. The worrying is awful. It's horrible!

2. Get a referral to a private Paediatric consultant first as it might be that she needs a CT scan instead of an MRI (that's what it sounds like).

Hope things are ok

I don’t think you can just book yourself a private MRI can you? You need a referral. Otherwise anyone who thought they might have something wrong would book one. Your first step would be an appointment with a private paediatrician.

An mri at her age will involve a general anaesthetic to keep her still

You need to PUSH. Go back to gp - with a full written list of symptoms and dates of all your previous appointments and what you’ve been fobbed off with

Don’t not leave until you’ve had at least one appropriate referral.

An MRI isn’t just a quick test. It’s a day admission, requiring a bed, pre op checklist & sedation. Usually a check by a cardiologist prior to check it is safe to be sedated too. The machine and operator is expensive. Then a radiology team need to review the results. You as a parent can’t go in the room if you have metal in your body, are pregnant or had your period more than 10 days ago. Drs only put children forward who they suspect really NEED it. Due to the costs, risks and sheer number of poorly children waiting for one.

Ask your GP to refer your little one to an ophthalmologist for an eye check which will be at a hospital. You may also be able to pay for this service privately if you call around. You could also book an initial consultant with a Paediatrician who may be able to point you in the right direction or even refer.

I understand your concerns, but you need to speak to your GP or Pead if you have one. A&E can’t help and an MRI really isn’t simple or pleasant for that matter. Presuming a brain tumour is very extreme. Lots of people suffer with squints & migraines but they aren’t put for an MRI. It usually turns out to be eye sight needing glasses