Injection of luxury at city health clinic

Published on Tuesday 20 January 2009 08:49

WITH its roaring fireplace, comfy leather sofas and huge television screens, it is a far cry from your typical doctor's surgery.

But the Edinburgh Clinic in Merchiston is being touted as Scotland's first "five-star" private healthcare clinic.

The luxurious clinic on Colinton Road, which will open in mid-February following an 8 million investment, will also bring the latest state-of-the-art healthcare technology and cutting edge equipment to the Capital, as well as the country's leading surgeons and consultants.

Commercial director, Alasdair Muir, 50, said: "Patients are coming, in some respects, in very serious circumstances and they're looking for confidence and inspiration from when they first walk into the medical clinic for treatment.

"We have gone to this attention to detail in terms of the building to make it the most comfortable and reassuring environment.

"It just makes for the complete patient journey which is what we are trying to achieve."

He added: "We tried to make it into almost a luxurious spa kind of environment as well as it having state-of-the art medical equipment. This is where it will make us stand out from the crowd."

The clinic contains five consulting rooms, three physiotherapy suites, a specialist day-case operating theatre and a minor surgery treatment room, and is expected to deal with up to 50 patients every day.

It even has a recovery room called The Haven for patients after an operation.

The clinic will offer medical and surgical assessments, as well as procedures including gynaecology, urology, colorectal, gastroenterology, dermatology, rheumatology and physiotherapy.

Dr Martin Errington, 48, medical director of the clinic, said: "The Edinburgh Clinic will be a new offering for patients, giving access to the best people, using the best equipment in the best surroundings."

The clinic, part of which opened yesterday – in a converted three-storey Victorian house – for medical scanning only, is a day case medical clinic with no patients staying overnight.

A team of ten full-time staff and around 25 of Scotland's leading surgeons, specialists and consultants will operate from the clinic.

The clinic will provide access to first-class imaging equipment including a digital X-ray, ultrasound and Dexa scanner, which is used to measure bone density.

It also features a medical imaging pod – a dedicated imaging suite attached to the main building – which contains an MRI scanner as well as a CT scanner, which is capable of non-invasive cardio screening and is the first of its kind in Scotland.