About Scottish Vein Centre
We are different at SVC. We only do leg veins
We are a small independent walk-in / walk-out office-based practice. We are absolutely committed to giving every individual patient a personalized experience. You will get full support from our highly dedicated and informed staff, right from your very first phone call.
You are unique.
Each patient’s veins are different and we endeavour to provide the best and most appropriate treatment available based on your first detailed assessment and your personal preference. Scottish Vein Centre offers every possible choice of modern non-surgical clinically proven treatment option. No other vein clinic in Scotland can match us for choice or cost. Because we are small and independent.
Profile of Dr Kieran McBride : Medical Director
Qualified in 1982 from Trinity College, Dublin and trained in Vascular and transplant surgery before becoming an Interventional Radiologist. He was appointed first as a Consultant Radiologist in Edinburgh in 1994 and was Lead Consultant Interventional Radiologist in NHS Fife since 2004 until his retirement from the NHS in August 2016. He now dedicates his clinical time fully to the Scottish Vein Centre.
Kieran had the vision to combine his skills in “key hole” techniques with his previous experience in vein surgery. He was initially inspired in 2004 by Dr Robert Minn, an American Radiologist, when he first heard him present a new ground-breaking technique to effectively treat varicose veins, totally under local anaesthetic, in an office-based setting. The “inside the vein” endovenous laser treatment ( EVLT / EVLA ) and radio frequency ablation ( heat-shrinking ) technique called VENEFIT Closure Fast have almost entirely replaced varicose vein surgery to treat varicose veins in North America.
In 2005 Dr McBride conducted a proof of concept trial of EVLA in NHS Fife. All 20 patients had a successful outcome, but unfortunately the NHS in Fife and elsewhere in Scotland and across the UK have refused to fund this new treatment. To improve availability of laser vein treatment and other vein treatments and to increase patient choice Dr McBride established the Scottish Vein Centre in January 2006.
Kieran is now considered an international expert in key-hole vein procedures. He lectures regularly about the new vein treatments in an effort to convert as many other vein doctors as possible to non-surgical methods. He is one of only 16 on the advisory board of the College of Phlebology (visit the website). He has also been a Faculty member of both the Charing Cross International Symposium and the Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology Society of Europe since 2008 running workshops on office-based vein treatment.
Profile of Deirdre England: Practice Manager
Deirdre has been a trained nurse since 1980. She has qualified in children’s and general adult nursing and midwifery. Deirdre became Practice Manager in 2008 running the everyday business of the SVC with efficiency and a smile.
She has previously been a research nurse in Public Health at the University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology in Dublin. Her most recent role was as Charge Nurse at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh from 1998 to 2008.
Your first point of contact will be with Deirdre when you make your first phone call. She will sympathetically assess your requirements and arrange your first consultation. She will provide you with completely reliable medical information about your vein problem unlike anonymous administrative staff at the larger impersonal private hospitals. If you are claiming your care costs from a Private Health Insurance company she will help with this process. She will also be there for you to monitor your recovery and will deal with any of your concerns.
Our Dream Team
The Scottish Vein Centre team has been in place since our beginning in 2006. All three of our nurses have extensive experience in caring for our clients with sympathy and respect.
Our senior nurse, Sharon, has been assisting Dr McBride in minimally invasive procedures ( at the old Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh originally ) since 1994. She has specialist skills in Infection Control and Healthcare Quality Assurance.
Lavina has been providing sympathetic care and assistance to our service users since our inception in 2006. She will put you at your ease from the outset.
Kate joined the team with Lavina in 2006 and both have loyally provided high quality care with a smile. Kate has acquired specialist skill in laser safety management/