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Varicose veins are a common problem, affecting up to 1 in 3 adults in their lifetime. They are usually a sign of an underlying venous insufficiency.
Thread veins can appear anywhere on the body but are mostly evidenced on the legs and face. They are more common than varicose veins, affecting up to 80% of adults.
Leg ulcers appear as broken skin in the lower leg or feet. We have been successfully treating venous leg ulcers for over 20 years.
Upfront and fixed prices. Find out exactly what you’ll pay before attending. Medical Insurance should fund varicose vein treatment.
We just do veins and are the most experienced clinic in Europe. We strive to provide patients with the best possible service in a friendly environment.
We’re currently experiencing technical difficulties with our phone lines. In the meantime, please feel free to reach us via email at patientcare@veincentre.com. Thank you for your understanding.
Largest UK network of specialist clinics
To provide the very best service and produce the best outcomes requires the highest quality clinic facilities, medical equipment and staff with specialist knowledge.
Most private hospitals and general cosmetic clinics have to cater for a very wide range of patients and procedures. It is very difficult in such environments to produce optimum care for every patient as they have a multitude of different conditions requiring many different treatment plans and the necessary equipment and knowledgeable staff.
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Veincentre was set up in 2003 by Dr. David West, a Consultant Interventional Radiologist, and his wife Deborah.
Impressed by what he learned on a training visit to the US, Dr. West wanted to radically improve not only the medical techniques themselves but also the culture and process of varicose vein treatment in the UK.
Countless patients across the country were referred to NHS outpatient clinics, examined by a junior doctor, given another appointment for a scan, and returned to outpatients to be told “Your veins are not bad enough; we can’t treat you on the NHS.” What a waste of everyone’s time and resources!
In the private sector things were not much better with long-winded assessment processes necessitating multiple visits before a treatment plan was agreed and costed. No choice of treatment was usually offered and unreasonable charges were (and often still are) levied for traditional operations which had changed little in decades. Scientific studies on patients’ satisfaction with management of their varicose veins showed poor results.
David was determined to change all that and provide a vein service that truly met the needs and expectations of patients in the internet age.
All our patient communication both before and after visiting one of our clinics is undertaken centrally, by staff who just deal with patients who are suffering from varicose veins. They are all highly experienced and can confidently answer all of your queries, or will immediately put you in touch with one of our specialist nurses or doctors if you have acute medical concerns.
All our Head Office staff undergo initial training observing patients having consultations and treatment, so they really understand what happens to our patients. Contrast this with the call centres of general hospitals and cosmetic clinics where those answering the telephone will only have very limited, or often no, knowledge about the patient’s specific problems or treatments.
Click here to watch a video on the Veincentre team by Emily Bosworth.
The most important aspect of care for any condition is the ability and attitude of the team of doctors and nurses looking after you.
As in any other sphere of life, there is a spectrum of abilities. Although one likes to think that any doctor at consultant level will be expert in all treatments that he/she undertakes, the reality is very different. This is particularly the case for technically demanding procedures like EVLA. A few are exceptionally well trained and expert at what they do. Most (obviously) are pretty average and a few, unfortunately, are rather very unskilled.
Our unique recruitment, in-house training methods and our ongoing coaching programme for all doctors ensures that your treatment will be carried out by one of that small group of true experts.
By choosing us, you can be assured that pain will be minimised, outcomes will be optimised, and you will be looked after by a team who really care for you.
General private hospitals, on the other hand, will grant practising privileges to any local consultant with an NHS contract. They will allow them to start undertaking EVLA and other minimally invasive treatments with no initial assessment of ability and no direct supervision or specific onsite training.
Click here to watch a video on how we recruit consultants by Mr Wissam Al-Jundi.
Firstly, we have headhunted some of the most experienced and respected vein specialists in the UK, who have been keen to work with us because of our values and reputation. However, regardless of an individual doctor’s experience or reputation, before granting any consultant practising privileges with us we insist that they undergo an intensive training program under the guidance of our medical director. Many different stages in the diagnosis and treatment are taught and assessed. Only when both the medical director and the individual consultant are entirely satisfied that they are able to undertake all our diagnostic and treatment procedures to a very high standard, will they be given lists on their own.
Despite all those who apply for practising privileges already being at consultant level, there is a high loss rate during the training, with only those who perform exceptionally well ending up joining the Veincentre team.
Click here to watch Emily Bosworth talk through what makes Veincentre different.
The medical director also spends a day every year with each consultant in what we refer to as coaching. Coaching is a well-known and vital part of performance in top sports people, but it is only recently being recognised as a useful means of raising performance in doctors. It is especially applicable to technical tasks such as EVLA. This process allows little tips and tricks to be learnt from one consultant and then passed to all others. Akin to the philosophy of David Brailsford with his cyclists at team sky, this enables aggregation of marginal gains leading to a steady improvement in performance of all consultants on our team.
All our treatments are minimally invasive and recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). Therefore, walk-in, walk-out treatments, no time off work and no surgery required.
Learn more about why you’re in safe hands at Veincentre.
We have over 20 state of the art, purpose-built clinics designed specifically for providing outpatient-based diagnosis and treatment for varicose veins. They enable the most comfortable and efficient experience, treatment being undertaken in under 2 hours.
In locations that we do not own but subcontract space, we provide all of the specialist medical equipment and go to great lengths to ensure that facilities meet our exacting standards.
Unlike all other providers, we have specified and designed our own equipment including procedure kits to ensure the safest, most effective and most versatile treatments. However, challenging the anatomy, the combination of dedicated procedure kits and highly skilled operators means that all patients can be effectively and safely treated without surgery. Without such dedicated equipment and staff, many patients elsewhere will be advised that endovenous laser ablation is not possible and surgery is the only answer.
We recognise that most of our patients lead busy lives and if they are to have treatment of any type they want this to be arranged and performed in an efficient manner to minimise disruption to their lives.
Running our business efficiently also enables us to keep our costs down and then to offer the best value anywhere in the UK.
Our Patient Advisory Team: Telephone or online enquiries are answered quickly by staff who really know what they are talking about.
We do our best to ensure appointments can be arranged at times to suit patients. We also try very hard to keep strictly to appointment times (although with medical treatment, occasionally, there will be unforeseen circumstances where one case overruns). We monitor wait times closely and take action whenever waits become a problem.
Where necessary, we will help you negotiate the rather tortuous systems of some of the private health insurance companies!
