Wait times · United Kingdom

18 weeks is the NHS's own target.
Seoul does it in three days.

The NHS's own constitutional standard is 18 weeks from referral to treatment, and real waits routinely run longer, which is why Britain's self-pay diagnostics market has grown so fast. In Seoul the same imaging is scheduled in three days. Every figure on this page is a provisional placeholder, not yet checked against a named source or measurement date. See the methodology line under the comparison table for exactly what is still pending.

Price my program See the report format
10 wks
Wait for an MRI

Placeholder: NHS diagnostic wait, not yet sourced.

18 wks
Referral to treatment target

NHS constitutional standard, frequently missed.

3 days
Same scan, scheduled in Seoul

Booked and completed inside one visit.

2–3 wks
Full written report

Same-day consult on preliminary findings; the full report varies by centre. KMI and Hanshin Medipia publish two to three weeks; Hanaro publishes no figure at all (measured 2026-07-28). You are not in Korea waiting for it. Reports are sent by email (or by post, at one centre) once ready, after you have already flown home, so a longer report does not mean a longer trip.

Every figure on this page is a provisional placeholder, not yet checked against a named source or measurement date. See the methodology line under the comparison table for exactly what is still pending.

The arithmetic

United Kingdom. Korea.

What you are comparing
UK VS KOREA
United Kingdom
NHS WAIT / UK PRIVATE CASH PRICE
Korea
PARTNER CENTER, SCHEDULED VISIT
Wait for an MRI (NHS)
10 wks
3 days
Wait for a colonoscopy (NHS)
8 wks
3 days
Referral to treatment, NHS target
18 wks
—
Comprehensive screening, UK private self-pay
£2,800
£1,100
Everything in one visit
No SPREAD ACROSS SEPARATE APPOINTMENTS
Yes ONE SCHEDULED DAY, ONE BUILDING
£1,700lower out-of-pocket
15 weeksearlier
1 tripinstead of a referral queue
Price my program

PLACEHOLDER: not yet cited to a primary source. Figures in this table have not been checked against a named source or measurement date.

Next steps

What to check before you book.

How it works

Screen, scan, report: the five steps from first message to English report in hand.

Programs & pricing

Three fixed-price tiers, quoted in your currency before you book.

Will my doctor accept it?

What's in the report file, who signs it, and the honest limits of a result from a clinic your GP hasn't heard of.

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