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CommentsYOUR RESPONSE TO MY REQUEST FOR A QUOTE FOR MY WIFE’S GALL BLADDER REMOVAL WAS FANTASTIC. WITHIN 24 HOURS I HAD A PHONE CALL FROM YOU WITH A QUOTE. WITH THIS QUOTE AND RYANAIR’S CHEAP FLIGHTS AND A LACK OF RESPONSE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES I HAD NO HESITATION IN ACCEPTING IT. THE PICK UP AT THE AIRPORT WAS EXCELLENT. THE HOSPITAL WAS EXCELLENT. THE TRANSLATOR WAS EXCELLENT. THANK YOU PETER BRUNT Dear Sirs, Spinal surgery in Riga If you are in the unfortunate position of needing spinal surgery, the single must important thing is the skill of the surgeon (second you are not running the risk of contracting MRSA while in hospital). 27 years ago I had a lumber spinal fusion (bone grafts only no instrumentation) after breaking my back. I had an excellent surgeon and after 18 months recovery went on to live a very active life. Unfortunately the boney fusion became unstable vertebras moved, disc became crushed and the pain became ever more increasing, until I could no longer work, drive, sit down without severe pain. Sleeping was a thing of the past. The NHS attitude (without any investigation) was that there was nothing to be done I would always be in pain. I paid to have x-rays taken and travelled three hundred miles to see a very eminent surgeon, from the x-rays and examination he felt a re-fusion with instrumentation would give me a very good result with a possibility of a 70% reduction in pain. I was unable to get a surgeon in my area to do the surgery on the NHS. After discussing the problems with my GP he felt that I would not get the surgery I needed (chronic pain not being a priority for primary care trust for the cash strapped NHS). We talked about going over seas for my surgery. Financing the surgery I would need in Britain would be impossible for me. I spent a lot of time researching spinal surgery over seas and decided to visit Riga the capital of Latvia, which has their own orthopaedic hospital and a spinal unit. The hospital in Riga’s MRSA record put British hospitals to shame! A couple of hours from Liverpool airport and the hospital only 30 minutes from the airport. Great: but I went with great caution many questions and ready to return to England if I had doubts or concerns. Once I spoke with my surgeon all doubts disappeared. He looked at my notes, x-rays and MRI scans and gave me an examination. I had more x-rays and MRI scans. Christine Hilton I recently (August 2006) underwent a knee arthroscopy operation which was carried out at the Orthopaedic Hospital in Riga Latvia. The arrangements made by Baltic Link in Northampton were good and they did what they said they were going to do. We were concerned as to what might happen when we arrived in Riga but we need not have been as we were expected. The medical staff in Riga were excellent and all spoke some English. They explained to me what was going to happen and what to expect in the procedure. The day after the operation my knee had had a small bleed and the surgeon drained the blood off well. I was also given a prognosis of what to expect in the future and how to deal with it. I may well go back to see the team in Riga on an annual basis for my checkups. For a straightforward operation and, if you are adventurous, I would recommend going to Latvia. When I had my stitches out with my GP in England I was told that the wound was very clean which must say something about the hospital. Kim Mahon I had a shoulder arthroscopy, sub-acromial impingement decompression and rotator- cuff repair. I can offer no comment about the efficacy of the treatment because I am still un the recovery period and cannot know of the long-term outcome. Not having any medical knowledge I can only say that I have had very little pain since the operation, certainly none of the constant night-pain I had before it. I cannot see that the treatment would have been any different or better elsewhere. Dr. Zatlers exuded an air of great knowledge and competence and certainly made me feel confident of a successful result. I was impressed by the AEP swift action and follow-up in England and Mr. Kuznecovs and others were efficient and helpful and did what they said they would do in the organising of everything. Contact with the agents in Riga on arrival was good and efficient. The sole reason of course for my travelling to Latvia was the fact that it was much cheaper that in UK to have the treatment. To compare it with NHS is not all that useful because I paid privately whereas no additional payment was needed on the NHS. Naturally I would have had to wait for another six months on the NHS and still be not guaranteed that it would be done then. Apprehension about attending an NHS hospital because of previous experience of extreme patient-neglect, dirt, dirty staff, and foreign staff with communicable diseases made me reluctant to consider this course apart from the waiting in pain for at least six months. Coupled with the impression that the NHS is mainly now in operation to provide secure cushy jobs and indexed-linked pensions for hundreds of thousands of unsackable staff that and that patients who pay for it through their taxes are a nuisance to be endured, made me very reluctant to risk going on the waiting list. Bearing in mind that as a self-employed person I would also have to endure twelve weeks without income after the surgery, I just could not really afford the cost of private surgery in UK which was about three times that of Latvia not because of what the surgeon and anaesthetist charged but because of what the NHS chargers for them to use their building. I would advice any potential client to be prepared for a rather dilapidated building although the private room I had was very good. The service was reasonable but quite different from what one would expect privately in England. The main problem is the lack of English-speakers apart from the doctors who can communicate well in English. I cannot honestly say the food was very good but the hospital was clean and warm and nursing staff were good. Various details could be improved but above all I can only emphasise that I went to Latvia to save money, I achieved that purpose, my operation was a good as in UK as far as I know, and if I had to have another operation I would return to the same place providing it was financially worthwhile. I believe that the treating of UK patients in Riga is in its infancy and will improve even further with the feedback from patients like me and I have made some suggestions regarding private patients from UK which I am sure will help the hospital to make their foreign patients’ stay even more pleasant. My advice is to consider Latvia. You are at liberty to call me for any further advice. AEP have my telephone number. Richard Arnold I am pleased to provide some comments about my recent arthroscopy procedure which I had carried out in Riga at the Orthopaedic clinic. The arrangements made by Balticlink were very good - exactly what they said they would do, they did. The medical staff in Riga were excellent and spoke very good English; they also were very caring and took the time to make sure that everything was explained to me and that my expectations and their expectations matched. They understood my concerns and nervousness and did all they could to alay my fears prior to the operation. The procedure I believe has gone very well, I am at the time of writing only five days after the operation but I am mobile, I have not had to use a walking aid and can see and feel daily improvements to my knee. The staff both in Riga and in the UK have really impressed me with both their honesty and concern and I have had a very positive experience. I have also been given a very thorough appraisal of my current position, and a detailed prognosis of the probable way that my knee problems will work out. I will use this information to plan the next stage of my medical treatment and now have the luxury of some time to arrange things more conveniently next time. I have been waiting for this procedure to be undertaken on the NHS for about twelve months - and I still do not know when I would have received treatment even today. The provision of medical treatment in Latvia has worked for me, I would not hesitate in seeking further treatment when required in Latvia. To travel all the way to Latvia for a fairly straight forward procedure was on the day I travelled out, one of the last things that I wanted to do. Today, with the benefit of hindsight it was one of the better decisions that in life I have made and I feel that I could have received no better treatment anywhere else. Alan Morgan In early March 2006 I slipped and fell, dislocating my shoulder. It went back under my own manipulations, but I still reported to the A & E Department of our local 'Super Hospital'. A month later, without any thorough examination and without a consultation with a consultant, I was discharged and told I was fine. For the next six months I slept for perhaps an hour-at-a-time and was awake for 2 or 3 hours due to 'night pain'. My G.P. referred me to a specialist consultant but I was diverted to yet another physiotherapist. My wife judged me to have aged 10 years in those 6 months. We decided that we would combine our annual holiday with a consultation, and only a consultation, in Riga, Latvia. We arrived on a Wednesday evening, were driven to our hotel by Vadim, Avitek's Managing Director and Alena, the General Manager, booked in to our hotel and collected the next morning. We were introduced to the consultant and left to be examined. It took Dr. Zatlers two minutes to diagnose a torn rotator cuff and the rest of the day, with CS and MRI scans, to confirm that. We were collected, that afternoon, by Vadim from the hospital and collected, once again, the next morning for another appointment at the hospital to review the results of the MRI scan. The hospital is charming; what is referred to in the UK as a 'Nightingale Hospital', that is to say, it was Victorian and built with patients in mind, not to suit the accountants. Each building is small and dedicated to a specialism. The grounds are spacious and wooded with seats for the patients to use. Ideal for convalescence (in the summer months!). The wards are clean! I had done my research before we even decided to arrange a consultation. I discovered that my consultant, Dr. Zatlers, is highly regarded internationally, had spent time at Yale, has fluent English and my informants had never heard a bad word about the hospital. The rate of hospital acquired infection in the UK is about 10%; in Riga it is 0.4%! The actual decision to have surgery there was made by my boss (my wife). I had no reservations from what I had learnt; she made the final, impulsive, decision on her intuitive judgement of the competence, skill and caring nature of the staff. On Monday I was in surgery! That signalled the end of our holiday plans, but started my return to normality. Post operative recuperation treatment had to be fought for, but I am getting it from my G.P. and the hospital physiotherapist. Both of these medical professionals have grudgingly volunteered their admiration for the skill of Dr. Zatlers and offered that my recovery would not have been as fast had I gone down the NHS route. Four months later I have full mobility in my shoulder; the NHS reckon on six months. Full strength is expected in another two to three months; The NHS reckon on 12 months! True to their word, I have come to view the staff of both AEP (UK) and Aviteks Baltic as friends and we remain in touch, as I do with Dr. Zatlers and Sigita, my English-speaking nurse. Do you have your consultant's and nurse's home phone numbers and private e-mail addresses? I do! The Latvians are very friendly; I had no reservations about my wife's safety left alone in the Albert Hotel for a week. The care and attention I received in the hospital were of a level we have forgotten in the UK and the skill and after-care given by my consultant were superb. When, not if, (time takes it's toll and I have given my body a hammering) I require more orthopaedic surgery I shall book, not a consultation, this time but the surgery itself, in Riga. Meanwhile, it is our intention to spend next year's holiday in Latvia to actually see that gorgeous country and we shall book our holiday through Paul at AEP (UK). Stuart Howie LLb(hons), MSc, MCIOB, MAPM, AIEH
We look forward to hearing from you soon !
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