Can I choose where I have MRI Scan (Outpatient)?

Yes, under the NHS Choose & Book entitlement you can choose any clinically appropriate NHS Trust at the point of GP referral. Use the Trust waiting-time table on this page to find shorter waits.

Is this data current?

NHS England publishes monthly RTT statistics with a one-to-two-month lag. PlainNHS aims to refresh within a week of each release, though the data on file may lag behind at any given time; the reporting month is always shown next to the table so you can check how current it is.

Procedures · Diagnostics

MRI Scan (Outpatient)

Q: What is the median NHS wait for MRI Scan (Outpatient)?

The national NHS median wait for MRI Scan (Outpatient) is 6.1 weeks; nine in ten patients are treated within 13.5 weeks. Source: NHS England RTT statistics.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging diagnostic scan.

Data vintage: 2025-Q4 · Reviewed by PlainNHS · 2026-05-20

Median wait

6.1 weeks

National median across all NHS Trusts

90th percentile

13.5 weeks

9 in 10 patients treated within

Annual NHS volume

2,100,000

Approx. completed pathways / year

About this procedure

MRI Scan (Outpatient) falls within the NHS Diagnostics pathway. The NHS performs roughly 2,100,000 of these procedures each year across English NHS Trusts. The current national median wait from referral to treatment is 6.1 weeks; nine in ten patients are treated within 13.5 weeks.

The NHS 18-week Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) standard says that 92% of patients on an incomplete elective pathway should wait no longer than 18 weeks from the day a GP referral is received to the day treatment begins (or a clinical decision not to treat is made). For diagnostic-only procedures (MRI, CT, colonoscopy), the relevant standard is the 6-week diagnostic-waiting-times target.

Use the table below to see how each NHS Trust performs for MRI Scan (Outpatient) specifically. Median wait varies meaningfully between trusts - patients have a statutory right to choose their treating Trust at the point of GP referral. The Trust column links through to its full PlainNHS profile (CQC rating, A&E and cancer performance, full procedure-by-procedure waiting times).

Wait times by NHS Trust

NHS Trust	Region	CQC	Median (wks)	P90 (wks)
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust	London	Outstanding	5.7	12.6
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	London	Outstanding	5.7	12.7
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	Good	5.7	12.7
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	South East	Good	5.7	12.7
Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust	London	Outstanding	5.7	12.7
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North East	Outstanding	5.7	12.7
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust	London	Good	5.8	12.8
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust	London	Good	5.8	12.7
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust	North West	Good	5.8	12.8
NHS Lothian	Scotland	Good	5.8	12.8
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	London	Requires Improvement	5.8	12.8
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	Yorkshire & Humber	Good	5.8	12.8

Source: NHS England · Reporting month: 2025-12

Source attribution & methodology

Procedure waiting times: NHS England RTT statistics
Annual NHS procedure volume: NHS England Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) admitted-patient summary
Methodology: how PlainNHS computes per-Trust medians

Important: Statistical waiting times do not predict the timing of any individual case. This page is not medical advice; speak to your GP, NHS 111, or the treating Trust for specific clinical decisions.