Ian McCafferty

Dr Ian McCafferty is a highly experienced Diagnostic and Interventional Radiologist based in Birmingham, dedicated to providing patients with accurate diagnoses and minimally invasive treatments. He works across ultrasound, CT and MRI, with particular expertise in gastrointestinal, vascular and urogenital imaging. He has a strong focus on early cancer detection using non‑invasive techniques such as CT Colonography (Virtual Colonoscopy), MR Enterography and multiparametric MRI of the prostate to help identify prostate cancer at an early stage.

In his interventional radiology work, Dr McCafferty performs a wide range of minimally invasive procedures designed to reduce discomfort, avoid major surgery and speed up recovery. His specialist areas include vascular access procedures such as Hickman line and port insertions, tumour ablation using microwave and cryoablation, urological interventions, and the diagnosis and treatment of vascular malformations. He also has extensive experience in paediatric interventional radiology and carries out vascular embolisation procedures, including treatments for fibroids, enlarged prostates and arthritis.

Dr McCafferty trained at University College London and The Middlesex Hospital, completing an intercalated degree in Immunology in 1986 and qualifying in Medicine in 1989. After gaining further experience in Australia and on the south coast of England, he achieved Membership of the Royal College of Physicians. He then undertook specialist radiology training in the West Midlands, completing Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists in 1996. His interest in interventional, gastrointestinal and urological radiology developed during this period, leading to a further fellowship at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals in Oxford. He returned to Birmingham in 1999 to take up a consultant post at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and was appointed honorary consultant at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2001.

Throughout his consultant career, Dr McCafferty has introduced many new techniques in cancer diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment at both Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. He has previously led the interventional radiology service, helped oversee the development of a 24‑hour on‑call service, and contributed to planning and delivering services during the move into the new hospital. He is also a director of the Quality and Outcomes Research Unit.

Dr McCafferty is actively involved in professional societies, including the British Society of Interventional Radiology, Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe, Society of Interventional Radiology in the USA, Society of Paediatric Interventional Radiology, British Society of Genitourinary Radiology, British Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology and The Radiology Clinic. He has held senior leadership roles within these organisations, including serving as secretary, vice president and president of the British Society of Interventional Radiology.

Passionate about education, he has served as deputy head of the West Midlands Radiology Training Scheme and continues to supervise interventional radiology trainees. He has chaired the BSIR Educational Committee and Scientific Programme Committee. He is also co‑founder of national specialist groups including Interventional Oncology UK, which promotes minimally invasive cancer treatments, and the Vascular Anomalies Special Interest Group, which focuses on improving care and outcomes for patients with rare vascular conditions.