NHS diagnostic waits · Cambridge · MRI scan
MRI scan waiting time at Addenbrooke's Hospital
This is Addenbrooke's Hospital. Not your area? Pop in your postcode and we’ll take you to your nearest hospital’s MRI wait.
Or browse all scans & tests →Median wait so far in the current NHS MRI queue.
NHS DM01 data, August 2026
Where it’s done at Addenbrooke's Hospital
MRI scan is done in the imaging department at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. To be seen you usually need a referral: most people are referred by their GP, and some by a hospital specialist. Once referred, the appointment comes by letter, text or the NHS App.
What an MRI scan involves, on the NHS website →Get your free companion dashboard for your treatment to support you through your journey: the faster hospitals near you and every option, compared.
Get your free companion dashboard→Your options from here
1Free on the NHS
Stay on the NHS for your scan
Wait the NHS scan queue. 4 weeks typical wait here.
2Free on the NHS
Switch to a faster NHS hospital for your scan
When your GP refers you for your MRI, Right to Choose lets you ask to go to a faster NHS hospital.
3Part paid
Private scan, keep your NHS place
Pay for the scan privately, then rejoin the NHS for treatment.
4Self funded or insured
Go fully private
The scan and any follow-up, all private.
More about Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
How deep the queue is now
Share of the current MRI queue at this trust by whether they have passed six weeks, August 2026. The NHS standard is that fewer than 1% wait over six weeks.
NHS hospitals near Cambridge
Addenbrooke's Hospital (current)
0 mi
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust · West Suffolk
24 mi
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust · Harlow
28 mi
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust · Colchester
37 mi
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · Milton Keynes
39 mi
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · North Northamptonshire
40 mi
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust · King's Lynn and West Norfolk
42 mi
Median MRI wait so far in the current queue, August 2026, straight-line from this hospital. Switching does not guarantee a shorter wait.
How we know this
NHS DM01 diagnostics data, August 2026.
The whole trust (Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), a current-queue snapshot, not a prediction.
Wait or Pay is independent and is not the NHS. We show the routes and let you choose. Nothing here is medical advice.
How long will you really wait, and how could you go sooner?
Your free companion dashboard compares all four paths for your treatment: wait, switch to a faster NHS hospital, part-private, or fully private. It names the faster hospitals near you, shows what going private would cost, and gives you letters ready to send. You can print it or save it as a PDF. Free, and nothing is locked or paid.
Get your free companion dashboard→