Affidea Belfast

I visited Affidea on Belfast's Malone Road this morning for a spinal MRI. Now, clearly, I expected that there would be a difference between a private health care facility & an NHS facility but I didn't expect such a huge difference. On arrival, after a very stressed morning, I was greeted by an absolute sweetheart of a girl and a lovely Lavazzo espresso. The coffee alone gave Affidea serious brownie points! I was shown into a nice little room to change into my single use gown (which actually didn't leave my bottom hanging out for the world and his dog to have a laugh about!). The room was locked when I left. A simple thing but important. Last time I had a scan at the RVH in Belfast, the woman in the cubicle next to me was distraught because her phone & wallet had been stolen while she was being scanned. I am, just ever so slightly, claustrophobic. I find MRI scanners quite difficult due to being a) in the tunnel & b) dealing with the noise of roadworks being blasted at you in dolby stereo! Affidea's scanner is shorter & wider than any other MRI scanner in the country. This, together with good quality headphones playing my favourite radio station, made for an altogether much more pleasant experience. Both girls who were involved in the process of scanning me were just lovely. They checked in regularly that I was feeling OK and coping with the enclosed space. At one point, one of the girls came out and tucked pillows under each of my arms to ensure I was as comfortable as possible. I hadn't even said a word about being uncomfortable. The thing I liked best about how both girls interacted with me was that you could see very clearly that they did actually care about me feeling as good as possible. All in all, Affidea Belfast would have a very very easy 10 out of 10 from me. I couldn't recommend them highly enough.