Private X-ray for Enfield — Fixed-Price Bone and Joint Imaging in London

Why choose us for a private X-ray near Enfield?

The clinic publishes the price and the appointment length of every X-ray it offers, so there is no estimate to chase and no surprise at the desk afterwards. Each X-ray is £120, and if more than one area needs imaging, the team confirm the total with you before anything is taken. Patients reach us easily from Enfield Town, Bush Hill Park, Grange Park, Ponders End and Edmonton, and every image is reported by a registered clinician.

The whole service is set out on the X-ray scans page; these are the X-rays you can book here, each with its published fee:

Tell us what happened and the team will help you work out whether an X-ray is the right test, or book a private GP appointment and be examined before anything is imaged. Nobody can diagnose you over the telephone, and we will say so if imaging is not the sensible next step. If you cannot see the area you need on the list, ask us — every scan the clinic offers is in one place. If you are a GP or consultant sending a patient, refer a patient sets out what we need.

How is an X-ray taken?

An X-ray sends a small, controlled dose of ionising radiation through the body and onto a detector. Dense tissue such as bone absorbs more of it and comes out pale on the image, which is why this is the first test reached for after a suspected fracture, for worn joints and for the chest. Nothing enters your body, nothing is injected for a plain film, and you feel nothing at the moment the picture is taken.

Tell the team when you book if you are pregnant or think you might be. Radiation in pregnancy deserves a proper conversation, and it is far better had at the booking stage than in the corridor on the day. Separately, so that nobody arrives expecting one, the clinic does not carry out pregnancy scans of any kind.

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 paediatric care has a page of its own on this site.

Here is what happens on the day:

1. You take off jewellery, coins and anything metal near the area being imaged, and you may be given a gown to change into.
2. The radiographer positions you against or on the detector and shows you how to hold still.
3. They step behind a screen and take the exposure, which is over in an instant and cannot be felt.
4. The image is checked there and then, and a second view is taken if the first does not answer the question.

There is nothing to recover from, so most people leave straight after the image is checked. There is no sedation, no dye and no recovery time for a plain X-ray, so you can eat, drive and go straight back to work. If what you describe turns out to be a soft-tissue problem rather than a bony one, the radiographer will say so, and an ultrasound scan may be the test to arrange instead.

How long does an X-ray take, and when do the results arrive?

An X-ray appointment here is booked for around 10 minutes. That covers checking in, being positioned, the exposure and a look at the image before you leave, and most of that time goes on the positioning rather than on radiation. If more than one area is being imaged, allow a little longer, because each area is taken and reported on its own, and the team go through the total with you before anything is taken.

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. What lands in your inbox, and what to do with it, is set out in how your results reach you.

The benefits of going private for your X-ray

Going private is not only about being seen sooner. It is about knowing the fee before you commit, choosing an appointment that fits round work, and leaving with a written report your own doctor can act on.

• No referral letter to obtain, because self-referral is accepted.
• £120 for each X-ray, published in advance, with the total confirmed before anything is taken.
• Images reported by a registered clinician and sent to you as a PDF.
• Saturday and Sunday appointments, 8am to 8pm, as well as Monday to Friday.
• A clinician who will tell you when a different test would answer your question better.

Same or next-day appointments are often available, and the clinic opens at the weekend because injuries do not keep office hours. An X-ray will not always settle the matter on its own, but it is usually the quickest way to rule a fracture in or out, and you go home with a report to take to your doctor. Every fee the clinic publishes sits on the price list.

Driving in from Enfield with a painful injury

Your appointment takes place at the London Diagnostic Centre, at the rear of Grovelands Medical Centre, 1 Grovelands Rd, London N13 4RJ. Grovelands Road runs between Aldermans Hill and Fox Lane, a short walk west of Green Lanes and the Palmers Green Triangle. If you are travelling in with an arm you cannot use or a leg you cannot put weight on, say so when the team ring to confirm: they will tell you where to park, which door to aim for and how far you will have to walk, because the clinic sits at the rear of the medical centre rather than on the road front. Being driven is usually easier than driving yourself with a wrist that will not turn.

We are not in Enfield Town itself; the clinic sits at the Palmers Green end of the borough, a short drive south. Most people come by car, down through Bush Hill Park and Winchmore Hill, or south on the A10 Great Cambridge Road from Ponders End and Edmonton and then west. By rail, Enfield Chase and Grange Park are on the Hertford Loop line that runs down through Winchmore Hill to Palmers Green, and Palmers Green station is a few minutes' walk from us; Enfield Town and Bush Hill Park sit on the Overground branch towards Liverpool Street instead. The 329 bus runs from Enfield Town to Turnpike Lane, joining Green Lanes at Winchmore Hill just to the north. The map above marks the town rather than the clinic itself; the address printed at the top of this page is the one to travel to.

• Enfield Town, Bush Hill Park and Ponders End, EN1 to EN3
• Grange Park and Winchmore Hill, N21, the nearest of the Enfield districts to us
• Southgate, N14, and Edmonton, N9, either side of the clinic in N13

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. It is worth reading what to expect on the day before you set out, and the FAQ page answers a good many of the questions people ring with.