Vilnius SPA, Lithuania
Medical tourism is on the rise in the UK. The Mirror reported two years ago that thousands of Brits were dealing with high costs of private British clinics and NHS waiting lists by choosing foreign clinics for surgeries and treatments, and since then the number of Brits going abroad for treatments has only risen.
The most popular countries for medical tourism in the UK are Turkey, Poland, Spain, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Recently, Lithuania has started emerging as another popular destination, newly discovered due to easy non-stop flights and high quality medical care.
“Brits are discovering such services as plastic surgery and dentistry in Lithuania. We have definitely seen an increase of medical tourists from the UK during the past six months” said Gintaras Papeckys, chief surgeon and the owner of GP Klinika in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Health Tourism LT, a company that specializes in bringing foreign patients to a few exclusive Lithuanian clinics for plastic surgery, dentistry, orthopedic traumatology and vascular surgery, has also seen an increase of inquiries from British patients in the last year. “British people are getting more open about trying foreign private clinics, especially after they discover the quality of services here in Lithuania, and see how much they can save. Besides, we offer another unique service – rehabilitation in some of the best Lithuania’s medical Spas, located in pine tree forests and using natural mineral water resources for healing and rejuvenation,” said Laura Lila, co-founder of Health Tourism LT.
SPA Vilnius Druskininkai, for example, is located in amongst pine tree forests and lakes in southern Lithuania. It’s a wellness center, a medical Spa and a 4-star hotel that offers mineral water procedures, therapeutic mud, kinesiotherapy, vertical baths and more. The medical Spa has experienced doctors on board, and provides treatment and prevention of nervous system diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, gynecological and digestive system disorders, and others.
GP Klinika, on the other hand, is a private plastic surgery clinic, located on a quiet street of the Old Town in Kaunas, the second largest city of Lithuania. The clinic uses the latest technology and medical advancements in such surgeries as tummy tuck, facelift, or breast implants, for a fraction of the UK price. For example, facelift, performed by using state-of-the-art technology, starts at £1,650 (compared to £ 5,000 in the UK), and tummy tuck and breast implants start at £1840 (compared to £ 4,000 – 6,000 in the UK).
The Global Medical Tourism Market was worth $19.7 billion in 2016 and estimated to reach $46.6 billion by 2021. Brits are forming a significant part of the global medical tourism market, and their share to the medical economy will keep growing despite the Brexit.
