Find out more about your treatment options, our fees and covering costs with medical insurance
The National Migraine Centre is unique: we are the UK’s only charity dedicated to treatment for people with migraine and primary headache.
We make no profit at all from our clinic – any income is invested in improving the lives of people with migraine by supporting better treatment, research, professional training and patient education.
For some appointments, you may be invited to make a voluntary donation towards the cost of your treatment. Other appointments, such as procedure clinics and private consultations, operate on a fixed fee basis. Find out more below.
We receive no NHS or government funding, relying on the fees and donations of our patients to continue our essential work.
Your fees and donations unlock access to world-class headache experts – with our exceptional patient satisfaction, patients often see a significant improvement in their quality of life after just one appointment.
We offer four appointment types – you can find further information on each and details of our fees and costs below.
Note: patients must be registered with a UK GP and be within the UK at the time of their appointment (or the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.)
Fees:
£259 First appointment
£159 Follow-up appointment
Includes:
Anti-CGRP medications can improve symptoms, sometimes dramatically, in around 50 to 60 per cent of cases – but they can be very difficult to access via the NHS. Your GP generally can’t prescribe these medications and you may have a very long wait, sometimes years, for a hospital appointment. You’ll also generally need to try three alternative drugs from three different drug groups before you can even be considered.
By booking an appointment through the National Migraine Centre, you can see a doctor or specialist prescribing nurse right away without even having to leave the house (video and telephone consultations available).
Appointments to access anti-CGRP prescriptions are often available quickly, getting you straight to a clinician who can discuss treatment. Clinicians through the National Migraine Centre prescribe injectable medications (Aimovig, Ajovy and Emgality) and anti-CGRP tablets, which are licensed both to prevent and treat migraine attacks (Vydura and Aquipta). They can also discuss recommending you for treatment with Vyepti, which is delivered by a drip once every 12 weeks.
It’s important to speak with a headache specialist to understand if anti-CGRPs are right for you and, if so, which option should be considered.
After you receive an anti-CGRP prescription from us, you’ll also need to pay the pharmacy for the cost of your prescription medication. These fees are set by the pharmacy and are much higher than NHS prescription charges.
Learn more: anti-CGRPs for migraine factsheet.
Note: Available only to those aged 18 and above who have 4+ migraine days a month. You can find out more about the prescription process and likely timescales on our Your questions page, here. Anti-CGRP medication is generally well tolerated but is not suitable for those who are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant. Those with heart disease should discuss this with their headache specialist. *We offer consultations to discuss treatments. A consultation may not lead to a prescription if your clinician decides it is unsuitable or you withdraw consent.
Fees:
£299 First appointment (40 minutes)
£199 Follow-up appointment (20 minutes)
Includes:
Book a private consultation today to see a leading consultant neurologist or world class GP headache specialist without leaving your home! Private video and telephone appointments are available quickly, getting you straight to a clinician who can help diagnose and treat your headaches. You’ll have around 40 minutes with the doctor (20 minutes for follow-ups), allowing plenty of time to investigate your headaches and develop a personalised treatment plan.
Note: patients under 16 years of age must be accompanied by their parent or guardian.
Includes:
Book a routine consultation today to see a trained GP headache specialist from the comfort of your home (video and telephone consultations available).
For routine appointments, you’ll be added to a waiting list. Waiting times can be some months due to high demand (we are working to recruit more doctors to work at charitable rates). You can usually be seen much more quickly with a private appointment instead, often in a few days – see above to find out more.
There’s no fixed fee for routine appointments. Instead, you’ll be invited to make a voluntary donation towards the cost of your consultation. We are a charity and make no profit – your donation helps fund treatment as well as headache research, professional training and patient education.
Note: patients under 16 years of age must be accompanied by their parent or guardian.
Fees:
£649 Botox (first appointment – with consultation)
£549 Botox (follow-up appointment – procedure only)
£449* Greater occipital nerve block (first appointment – with consultation)
£399* Greater occipital nerve block (follow-up appointment – procedure only)
* If you have been diagnosed with cluster headache, affecting one side of the head only, we’ll offer you a unilateral (one-sided) GON block if you let us know in advance. A unilateral block costs £249 for a first appointment and £199 for a follow-up.
Includes:
Book a consultation to discuss Botox or greater occipital nerve (GON) block at one of our regular procedure clinics, for convenient access to proven therapies for headache.
Your first appointment through the National Migraine Centre includes an extended consultation with a headache specialist.
Learn more: Botox for migraine factsheet / nerve blocks for headache factsheet.
Note: Botox procedures are available only to those aged 18 and above and who suffer chronic migraine. Chronic migraine is defined as at least 15 days of headache each month, of which at least eight days have migraine features, such as nausea, light or noise sensitivity, pulsating or lateralised pain. Nerve block procedures are available only to those aged 16 and above. You may have to travel to your nearest clinic. If the clinic location we offer you is not convenient, you can cancel the booking request before payment is made. * We offer consultations to discuss treatments. A consultation may not lead to a procedure if your clinician decides it is unsuitable or you withdraw consent. If a procedure is cancelled in such circumstances, you will be reimbursed the money that you have paid for that procedure, less a consultation fee for the doctor’s time (equivalent to the current fee for a first private appointment).
If you have medical insurance, some or all of your costs could be covered – check with your insurance provider.
You will usually need to pay your medical fees to us before you can reclaim them – let us know if you need a receipt for insurance purposes.
Always speak to your insurer to understand what is and what isn’t covered, since you’ll be liable for any fees not covered by your insurance provider.
You can find a list of the clinicians working with the National Migraine Centre here.