Policy number: SRP 076
Policy name: Open/Wide-bore MRI
Status: Individual Prior Approval
Effective date: 1 April 2024
Next review date: 1 April 2026
Mid and South Essex ICB commissions Open/Wide-bore MRIs on a restricted basis.
Funding will only be made available if the patient meets at least one of the criteria below:
- Morbidly obese patients unable to access locally commissioned MRI services because of their size.
OR
- Patients with co-morbidities which mean that the patient will be at significant increased clinical risk if they were to have a standard MRI.
Patients with claustrophobia are not eligible for open/wide-bore MRI scans unless either of the above criteria also applies.
Standing, upright, weight-bearing or positional MRI will not be routinely funded.
It is the responsibility of the referring clinician to provide evidence to support the application. Patients should be made aware that closed MRI machines generally produce higher quality images than open MRI machines. Decisions on funding are made based solely on the information provided.
Patients not meeting the above criteria will not be funded unless there are clinically exceptional circumstances.
Individual funding requests should only be made where the patient demonstrates clinical exceptionality.
Find out more information on applying for funding in exceptional clinical circumstances