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Wait or Fly

Waits and prices checked 26 October 2026

Wait at home, or fly for treatment abroad?

Official waiting times in the UK, Canada and Ireland and self-pay prices at home, next to prices clinics publish in 8 countries, for an MRI, a colonoscopy, a health check-up, cataract surgery and a dental implant. Every number has a source and a date.

Where you live
Treatment
Trip

Prices are what clinics publish. Flights and hotels are round examples: type your own. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Paying privately at home is cheaper. The cheapest trip, to Poland, costs £155 more than the lowest home price once the flight and hotel are added. Both skip the public wait (NHS England: 22.0% waiting over 6 weeks).

UKTRno priceKRno priceJPno price
Trip under the home priceTrip over the home priceNo comparable priceSwipe the map

5 countries publish a price for an MRI scan that we could check, in GBP.

  1. PolandCheapest trip

    Poznań · Warsaw · 2 providers

    £404–£457total trip
    Clinic £124–£177Hotel £160£155 over the home pricePrices

  2. Hungary

    Budapest · 1 provider

    £442total trip
    Clinic £132Hotel £160£193 over the home pricePrices

  3. China

    Shanghai · Beijing · Guangzhou and Shenzhen · 3 providers

    £908–£1,253total trip
    Clinic £48–£393Hotel £160£659 over the home pricePrices

  4. Thailand

    Khon Kaen · 1 provider

    £1,129total trip
    Clinic £219Hotel £160£880 over the home pricePrices

  5. Mexico

    Tijuana · 1 provider

    £1,409total trip
    Clinic £449Hotel £160£1,160 over the home pricePrices

No comparable price yet

  • Turkey No published price we could verify yet.
  • South Korea Only packages, guide ranges or partial fees are published, so no like-for-like price.
  • Japan No published price we could verify yet.

Prices abroad are the providers' own published figures for one body area, converted to GBP at a fixed European Central Bank rate. The home price is the lowest self-pay price we found. Flights and hotels are examples, not quotes.

The numbers in short

We compare 11 procedures in 8 countries and publish a page only where we found a price we could check: 56 pages so far. The gaps are real gaps, shown as such.

NHS England, MRI
22.0% waiting over 6 weeks (August 2026)
Canada, MRI
Median 59 days; 1 in 10 waited over 206 days (2025)
Ireland, GI endoscopy
About 30% waiting over 6 months (24 September 2026)
MRI abroad
about £48 to £449 per area, before travel
UK private MRI
about £249 to £380

Lowest published price, by procedure and country

In pounds, before flights and hotel. The darker the cell, the cheaper that country is for the treatment; click it for every price line and what it includes. A dash means we found no price we could verify.

Lowest published price by procedure and country, in GBP
ProcedureMexicoTurkeyPolandHungarySouth KoreaJapanThailandChina
MRI scanfrom £449–from £124from £132bundles–from £219from £48
Colonoscopy––from £107from £276from £311–from £618from £48
Health check-up–from £673from £1,710from £201from £395from £388from £155–
Cataract surgeryfrom £1,760from £1,630from £667from £674––from £909–
Laser eye surgeryfrom £1,570from £2,140from £1,240from £868–from £754bundles–
Dental implantfrom £957from £470from £1,540from £854–from £2,100from £1,440–
Veneersfrom £284from £269from £495from £422––from £399–
Hair transplant–from £1,840from £1,520from £2,030––––
Hip replacementfrom £10,470bundlesfrom £4,760from £5,230––from £5,540–
Knee replacementfrom £9,720bundlesfrom £4,920from £5,370––from £4,880–
IVF–from £2,510from £1,670––from £1,230from £3,330–

Converted at European Central Bank rates of 23 October 2026. Procedure units: MRI: one body area; Colonoscopy: one diagnostic or screening colonoscopy, with sedation and biopsies shown separately where the clinic prices them separately; Health check: one package for one person; Cataract: one eye, standard; Laser eye: both eyes, LASIK, SMILE or PRK/LASEK. Where a clinic prices per eye we double the figure and say so; Dental implant: one tooth: the implant post, the abutment and the crown. Where a clinic lists these separately, we show each line; Veneers: one porcelain or e.max veneer on one tooth. Composite; Hair transplant: one FUE session; Hip replacement: one primary total hip replacement on one side, with the implant and hospital stay. Fees that leave out the implant or the stay are shown but not compared; Knee replacement: one primary total knee replacement on one side, with the implant and hospital stay. Partial knees and fees without the implant are shown but not compared; IVF: one IVF or ICSI cycle with your own eggs: monitoring, egg collection, lab work and one fresh embryo transfer. Medicines count as included only where the clinic says so.

Who this is for, and who it is not for

For

  • People on a waiting list in the UK, Canada or Ireland who want to know what the alternatives cost.
  • Uninsured or high-deductible patients in the US comparing cash prices.
  • Anyone already travelling to one of these countries who wonders whether to book a check-up or a scan while there.

Not for

  • Urgent symptoms: go to your doctor or an emergency department at home.
  • Choosing a surgeon or judging a clinic's safety. We publish prices, not quality ratings.
  • Complex treatment (cancer care, joint replacement, full-mouth dental work) that needs follow-up close to home.

Start from where you live

UK

NHS waits, private prices, and the S2 route.

Waits and prices

Canada

CIHI wait times for MRI and cataract surgery.

Waits and prices

Ireland

NTPF waiting lists, TAS and the Cross Border Directive.

Waits and prices

US

Hospital cash prices next to prices abroad.

Cash prices

Or read how we check every number, and how to bring your results home so your own doctor can use them.

Treatment abroad vs waiting: questions

Is it cheaper to get an MRI abroad than to wait on the NHS?

Waiting on the NHS is free; the question is how long. In England 22.0% waiting over 6 weeks in August 2026. A private MRI in the UK costs about £249 to £380 at the providers we checked, and published prices abroad run about £48 to £449 before travel. Once a flight and two hotel nights are added, a private scan at home usually costs less for UK readers, unless you are already travelling.

Which country is cheapest for cataract surgery?

Published prices per eye run about £667 to £1,870 in the countries we checked, against about £2,000 to £3,610 privately in the UK. Lens type, the pre-operative visit and the follow-up change the total, so compare what each price includes.

How much is a dental implant abroad compared with the UK?

For one tooth with the crown, published prices abroad run about £470 to £2,330; a London clinic starts at £2,950. Implants usually need two trips, months apart, which can wipe out the saving.

Will the NHS or HSE pay if I go abroad?

Only for public treatment in Europe, approved in advance (NHS S2 route, HSE Treatment Abroad Scheme), or, from Ireland, through the Cross Border Directive, which repays up to the Irish public cost of care in the EU or EEA. Private clinics in Turkey, Asia or Mexico are self-pay.

Where do the prices on this site come from?

Only from prices the clinic or hospital publishes itself, or official fee schedules, each read on the date shown. We do not use broker or agency prices, and we do not estimate prices we could not find.

Can I trust a clinic because it is listed here?

No. A listing means the clinic publishes a price, nothing more. We have not inspected any clinic, and no clinic pays to be listed.

Sources for the waiting times

  1. Monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity, August 2026. NHS England, 8 October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  2. Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times statistical press notice, August 2026. NHS England, 8 October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  3. Wait times for priority procedures in Canada, 2008 to 2025: data tables. Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 25 June 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  4. Open data: inpatient/day case GI endoscopy waiting list by hospital, 2026. National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  5. Open data: inpatient/day case waiting list by specialty, 2026. National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  6. Euro foreign exchange reference rates. European Central Bank, 23 October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.