Private Chest X-ray in London – A Fast First Look at Your Lungs

Why book your private chest X-ray with us

A chest X-ray is a small examination that people usually want soon — because a cough has dragged on for weeks, because stairs have started to feel harder than they were, or because an employer, a university or a pre-operative check has asked for one. Here it is £120 and the appointment runs to about 10 minutes. You can request it yourself, without a GP letter, and every X-ray is still justified by a clinician here before it is taken. The price is published before you book and nothing is added to it without your agreement.

Chest is one of several regions the clinic X-rays, all at the same fixed fee, and every one is listed with its price and its appointment length. These are the examinations available:

Not certain an X-ray is the right test for what is bothering you? Ask the team before booking, or arrange a private GP appointment and be examined first. If you are a GP or consultant sending a patient, refer a patient sets out what we need. The published fees all sit on the price list, and the wider X-ray service has a page of its own on this site.

What a chest X-ray can and cannot tell you

A chest X-ray is a single flat image of everything between your shoulders and the bottom of your ribs. Air-filled lung reads dark, bone and fluid read pale, and that contrast is what makes the picture worth taking. If you have chest pain that is severe or crushing, pain spreading into your arm, neck or jaw, or breathlessness, sweating or nausea with it, call 999 now. That is an emergency, not something to book. It is generally the first imaging test done for a persistent cough, for breathlessness, for chest pain or after a chest injury, and it is an examination sometimes named on a pre-employment or pre-operative form. If you have been coughing for more than three weeks, are coughing up blood, or have lost weight without trying, see your GP urgently as well as booking — those symptoms need an assessment that runs faster than any private appointment and that a single X-ray does not complete. After a fall or a blow to the chest, judge the urgency before you book. If a limb is deformed, numb, cold or pale, if the skin is broken over the injury, or if you cannot stand on a leg after a fall, go to A&E or an urgent treatment centre rather than booking — those need treating, not just imaging.

It gives a reasonable first look at:

• The lungs — areas of infection, fluid, collapse or a shadow that needs explaining
• The size and outline of the heart, and the large vessels beside it
• The ribs, collarbones and upper spine, where a fracture may show itself
• The diaphragm and the space around the lungs, where fluid or air can collect

What it cannot do is exclude everything. Structures overlap on a flat picture, small changes can hide behind a rib or the heart, and a normal result is reassuring without being a clean bill of health. A scan is information, not a diagnosis, and it does not replace seeing a doctor. If a symptom is new, is getting worse quickly, or is worrying you, please speak to your GP or call NHS 111 as well as booking. The clinic does not offer CT or MRI, and if that is what your situation needs we will tell you rather than scan you anyway.

Radiation, pregnancy and how safe a chest X-ray is

X-ray uses a small dose of ionising radiation, and that is worth saying plainly rather than glossing over. A chest X-ray is one of the lowest-dose examinations in medicine, and the exposure itself lasts a fraction of a second.

It is only carried out when there is a good clinical reason for it, which is why the team ask what your symptoms are, whether you have had chest imaging recently, and what the images are needed for. A few practical points:

• Tell us if you are pregnant or think you might be, before anything is set up.
• Tell us about any chest imaging you have had recently, and where it was done.
• You take off clothing and jewellery from the chest and shoulders and change into a gown.
• You stand against the detector, breathe in and hold it while the image is taken.
• You feel nothing during the exposure, and there is no injection and no dye.

Booking for a child? Tell us their age when you ring. A patient under 16 must be brought by a parent or someone with parental responsibility, who consents to the test with them, and some examinations are not suitable for children — the team will say plainly if yours is not one we can do. An X-ray for a child is considered more carefully still, because children are more sensitive to radiation, and there is more about younger patients on the paediatric care page. Where a different test will answer the question without radiation, that is worth knowing: ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves and no ionising radiation at all. Sound waves do not pass through bone or gas, though, so it cannot look inside the chest the way an X-ray does and is not a substitute for one. The clinic offers both, and ultrasound scans have their own page.

How long it takes, and when the report reaches you

The appointment is booked for about 10 minutes, and most of that is undressing to the waist, putting on the gown and being positioned. The exposure lasts a fraction of a second. There is no injection, no dye and nothing to recover from, so you can drive, eat and return to work immediately afterwards.

Your written report is normally e-mailed to you as a PDF within one working day of your appointment. You receive a copy and, with your consent, we can send it to your GP or consultant — for a weekend appointment that copy can take up to 48 hours. Because it arrives as a PDF, forwarding it to an employer or an occupational health department is straightforward.

The clinic is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, and at the weekend from 8am until 8pm. Same or next-day appointments are often available.

There is more on how your results reach you, and on what to expect on the day if this is your first visit to the clinic.

Where the clinic is, and how to reach it

The clinic is at the rear of Grovelands Medical Centre, 1 Grovelands Rd, London N13 4RJ, in Palmers Green. Grovelands Road runs between Aldermans Hill and Fox Lane, a short walk west of Green Lanes and the Palmers Green Triangle. Because this is a ten-minute appointment, most people drive over, park, and are back out again quickly. The department is behind the medical centre rather than in front of it, so ask about parking and the way in when the team telephone to confirm.

By rail, Palmers Green is the nearest station, a few minutes’ walk away on Aldermans Hill, on the Hertford Loop with direct services from Moorgate and Finsbury Park; Winchmore Hill is one stop further north. Southgate, Arnos Grove and Bounds Green on the Piccadilly line are all a bus or cab ride away. By bus, the 329 runs between Enfield Town and Turnpike Lane, joining Green Lanes at Winchmore Hill, the W6 links Southgate, Palmers Green and Edmonton Green, and the 121 reaches Oakwood and Enfield.

People book chest X-rays here from all over this part of London:

• Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill and the streets immediately around the clinic
• Southgate, Oakwood and Arnos Grove, along the Piccadilly line
• Enfield and Edmonton, down the A105 or the A10 Great Cambridge Road
• Wood Green and Bounds Green, just off the A406 North Circular
• Muswell Hill and Alexandra Park, south of the North Circular

If the X-ray is for a job, a course or a pre-operative check, tell the team what the form actually asks for when you book, so the request is right the first time. If you use a wheelchair, have trouble with steps, or need an interpreter or someone with you, say so when the team ring back and they will tell you exactly what the building can and cannot do and arrange what is needed. Every published fee is on the price list, paying with insurance covers claiming on a policy, and the frequently asked questions page answers the rest.