Robots to perform surgery to cut NHS waiting times

Telegraph

a day ago

Robotic surgery will be used en masse to cut NHS waiting times.
On Wednesday, the head of the NHS will pledge a major expansion of robotic surgery to cover half a million procedures a year within a decade.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said his life had been saved with the help of robots as he backed plans to use technology to boost productivity and cut waiting lists.
The technique can be much more precise than the human hand, allowing greater dexterity as surgeons manipulate instruments using a 3D camera.
Surgeons can get through operations more quickly, clearing waiting lists, and hospital stays will be halved because procedures are less invasive and cause less tissue damage.
As a result, it can cut costs, help with a shortage of medics and get patients back to work more quickly.
Robots will become the 'default' option for keyhole surgery, and be rolled out in many other cases, including hip operations and emergency procedures.
Sir Jim Mackey, the NHS chief executive, will tell a conference of NHS leaders on Wednesday: 'The NHS has pledged to return to shorter elective waiting times by 2029, and we are using every tool at our disposal to ensure patients get the best possible treatment.
'Expanding the use of new and exciting tech such as robotic surgery will play a huge part in this.
'Not only does it speed up the number of procedures the NHS can do, but it also means better outcomes, a faster recovery and shorter hospital stays for patients.'
Hospital stays halved
The plans will mean around two-and-a-half to three million operations are delivered using robotic techniques in the next decade, bringing the total to half a million a year by 2035, up from 70,000 operations in 2023/24.
Nine in 10 of all keyhole surgeries, such as the removal of organs affected by cancer, will be delivered with robot assistance within the next 10 years – up from one in five today.
The NHS also expects to use the technology for increasing numbers of emergency operations.
The rollout of the approach has halved hospital stays for some bladder cancer patients, bringing it down to just five days. Some experts believe that it can save more than £1,000 per patient.
Transforming the NHS
When robotic surgery was first introduced, the focus was largely on urological cancer surgery, but in recent years it has been introduced to several more areas, including bowel, gynaecology, ENT and orthopaedic procedures.
It means operations like hysterectomies, which could involve a stay of up to a week, have reduced time in hospital to just 24 hours.
The new forecasts, announced at NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester, follows national guidance on how robotic programmes should be delivered.
Mr Streeting said: ' Innovative treatments and technologies that help fast track better outcomes for patients is how we transform our NHS and make it fit for the future. I know, myself, how important this is, when the NHS saved my life from kidney cancer with an operation led by a world-class surgeon being helped by a robot.'
He said the moves would 'help cut waiting lists and get patients treated on time again'.
Speaking ahead of the comprehensive spending review, which is expected to boost NHS funding by £30 billion a year by the next election, the Health Secretary said: 'We have put a record £26 billion into our NHS and social care, which includes cash to bring more cutting-edge tech into the health service to boost productivity, speed up recovery rates, and get people back to their best as soon as possible.'
John McGrath, consultant surgeon at North Bristol NHS Trust, and chair of the NHS England Robotically-assisted Surgery steering committee, said: 'Robot-assisted surgery is a perfect example of innovation improving patients' care and transforming the way the NHS works – the number of procedures being carried is set to rapidly grow over the next 10 years according to our analysis.
'Robot-assisted surgery can also make complex operations less physically demanding for surgeons, with the potential to reduce strain on surgical teams, allowing a greater number of complex surgeries to be carried out each day.'
Last year, patients at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust became the first in Europe to be offered robotic-assisted surgery for head and neck cancers.
Treating throat cancer
Robotic assistance enables surgeons to access tumours through a single incision or natural orifice, such as through the mouth, with surgical instruments that can then work more easily in the tight space of the throat and airway.
It means surgeons at Aintree University Hospital can remove tumours of the throat that previously would not have been accessible through the mouth.
In some cases where tumours were unable to be removed through the mouth, without the use of robotic assistance, patients would have needed big operations to split their jaw to reach the cancer. This causes a lot of pain, a complicated hospital stay for up to two or three weeks with feeding tubes, and usually requires a tracheostomy tube for a period, to ensure patients can breathe safely.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the expansion could bring 'significant efficiency gains' and improve outcomes for patients.
However, he said: 'To achieve these productivity boosts requires the upfront investment in robotic surgery technologies, which can often be very expensive. This is why it is so important for the Government to continue to increase capital investment into the health service to make up for decades of underinvestment.'
Kate Seymour, head of external affairs at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'We know that many people living with cancer across the country are facing long delays for care, and it's exciting developments, like those in robotic surgery announced today, that form an essential piece of the puzzle for sparking a much-needed revolution in cancer care.'