the service

CT, MRI and PET imaging are available on receipt of a request signed by a registered medical practitioner. Principally these requests come from NHS or Private Hospitals and their outpatient departments.

We offer General Practitioners open access to a range of MRI investigations.

Routine CT examinations are performed within 3 weeks of receipt of the request, MRI examinations within 3 weeks. Urgent examinations are normally undertaken on the same day or within 24 hours, depending on clinical urgency.

PET images are often performed within a week.

Unless otherwise requested, all scans performed in this Centre will be reported by a consultant radiologist, or occasionally by a Senior Specialist Registrar, and issued as a written report within a maximum of two working days of the scan.

Cardiovascular and thoracic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) referrals for MRI scans of the cardiovascular system and chest are undertaken at the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre under the supervision of Dr Tarun Mittal, Consultant in Cardiothoracic Imaging, who visits the Centre from Harefield Hospital (www.rbht.nhs.uk) on a weekly basis.

Films or CD copies are freely available to all NHS sites. Private patients are entitled to a copy of their MRI or CT films. Additional copies for the private sector are provided for a nominal charge of £65, irrespective of how many films are copied.

The department also provides images and reports for medico-legal purposes. The consultants also offer second opinions on films or images on CD prepared elsewhere.

Unfortunately, many referrals from the NHS outside the local Trust, or from the private sector, require financial approval. Unless a contractual agreement is already in place, we will need written approval before scanning takes place.

The Centre actively supports clinical research. Our staff and equipment put us at the fore-front in the development of functional imaging protocols in all three modalities but also provide the imaging support for the extensive drug trial work performed at Mount Vernon hospital. Our consultant radiologists, physicists and radiographers publish extensively and present papers and posters at most international conferences and conventions.