Latest news with #ChelseaAndWestminsterHospital
The Sun
12-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Inside the million-pound machine that will soon be performing keyhole surgery on Brits
IT is 10am, surgeon Jeffrey Ahmed has just finished his first operation of the day. His patient will go home to recover in her own bed within hours. 6 6 Her hysterectomy, a major surgery, only took 40 minutes thanks to the million-pound robot used by Mr Ahmed and his team at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. Done by hand, the same procedure would have taken two hours or more, involved an overnight stay on the ward and could have cost an extra £2,000. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told Sun Health that robot- assisted surgery is the 'future of the health service' as our figures show its use is skyrocketing. Robotic assistance was used in 70,000 procedures on the NHS in England last year. That was double the 35,000 two years earlier in 2022, and a ten-fold increase on the 6,600 performed in 2014. The machines, which are operated by surgeons, are capable of increasingly complex and major operations. They benefit doctors, patients and the health service. An NHS report last week said the adoption of robots is now 'in the exponential phase', meaning it is rapidly increasing. Officials say it will soon take over the majority of keyhole surgeries — such as gallbladder or appendix removal — and an increasing number of orthopaedic operations. Mr Ahmed conducts the hysterectomy — the removal of the womb — from a console in the corner of the operating room, where he sits with his shoes off and dance music playing in the background. He uses hand controls as if he is playing on a Nintendo Wii to manoeuvre the Da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System. Tiny mechanical forceps and scissors slice the womb free from the bladder a millimetre at a time, cauterising the flesh as they go to prevent internal bleeding. The robot's instruments are more compact than a surgeon's, so incisions are smaller, reducing infection risk, scarring and bleeding. 'Blood loss is way less now,' Mr Ahmed tells Sun Health. 'It's about 25ml, so the patients lose more from the blood tests beforehand than the operation itself.' A thin camera shows the inside of the body, and Mr Ahmed, the anaesthetist and nurses who are standing close to the patient to keep her safe watch the procedure on TV screens. Mr Ahmed, 40, says: 'This is the future and I don't think there's any way of going back. The benefits have been so profound that we can't not do it. 'We're doing about 1.5 times the amount of cases we were able to do with traditional keyhole surgery, and the patient outcomes are better, so our patients are staying in hospital for a shorter time.' Not only does this mean people can recover at home and resume their daily life quicker — it also frees up vital beds in hospitals. And patients need less anaesthetic because the operation is shorter — another risk reduction. Mr Ahmen said: 'Previously, their average length of stay was 1.8 days, but our patient will go home today after a cup of tea and a sandwich in the recovery room. We've finished that case at 10 o'clock in the morning and, across the UK, there are a lot of surgeons who still don't have their first patient on the table.' The first robot-assisted operation in the NHS was carried out in the year 2000. Now, there are more than 140 machines in use across the country. Health spending watchdog the National Institute For Health And Care Excellence last month gave the green light for hospitals to choose from 11 robotic systems. This signals top-ranking officials believe they are worth the money. Robo ops first took off in men's urology, operating on prostates and the pelvis, and are now increasingly used in gynaecology. 6 6 6 It is particularly beneficial here because unwanted damage or mistakes can have devastating effects on patients' lives, leaving them with sexual dysfunction, fertility issues or incontinence. Urological surgeon Ben Challacombe is the head of robotic surgery at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS trust in London. He operated on TV legend Stephen Fry's prostate cancer using a robot and has also treated film director Steve McQueen. He says: 'In some hospitals, you'll get an experienced surgeon doing operations with a robot but in other hospitals, they won't even have the robot yet. 'We need to democratise it because it's a postcode lottery. The NHS should negotiate to buy them at a national level to level up.' New departments are getting the help of robots all the time. They are now capable of heart surgery, mouth and throat operations, cancer treatment, hernia repair and even hip and knee replacements. 'Postcode lottery' Mr Challacombe says: 'The next generation will be single port robots where everything can go through one incision and cause even fewer side effects. 'In the future I think we will be able to train robots to do parts of the tasks automatically. 'They're a long way off being able to do an entire operation but we expect that sort of step up.' Orthopaedic surgeon Al-Amin Kassam is trialling robotic hip replacements at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. He uses a machine to create 3D scans before a robotic arm implants the new hip socket. The physical bone work is done manually by surgeons. Mr Kassam said: 'The robot essentially works like a spirit level. 'During a manual implant, we put the replacement cup where our eyesight tells us to, but human eyes have a margin of error. It also means you have to open up the area more, cutting through more muscle and tendon so you can see. 'With the robot, you don't need the full view, so where most surgeons would cut three tendons at the back of the hip, we only need to cut one. It should improve patient recovery and get them back to activity and to work earlier.' The NHS also needs patients' co-operation before robotic surgery becomes standard. Many may still have visions of rogue Terminator-style cyborgs at the operating table. But this could not be further from the truth, and the machines are not yet automatic. They can make only tiny movements controlled by qualified expert surgeons. Mr Kassam says: 'Some patients are scared to begin with because they think the surgeon is going to be in the coffee room while it's happening.' One patient who has been under the robotic knife is Ella Lacson, a 27-year-old from London. She has had the same endometriosis operation twice — once with a robot and once without. Endometriosis is a painful condition and causes the abnormal growth of womb tissue in other parts of the pelvis area. In severe cases, surgery is needed. Client accountant Ella says: 'It felt like barbed wire in my pelvis and got so bad I couldn't go out with my friends or into the office. Smash waiting lists 'I first had the surgery in 2012 which was really uncomfortable for a few weeks and I was off school for months. But after my second surgery with the robot in December 2024, the recovery was so quick. 'I went home the same day, managed the pain by myself for about two weeks and then I was back to normal. I've started doing dance classes again, which I couldn't do before. 'I didn't feel like there were any downsides. I'd 100 per cent recommend it to someone in the same position as me.' There are still some drawbacks, however, as machines typically cost upwards of £1million to buy and may initially disrupt efficiency. Mr Challacombe says: 'I'm very pro-robot but the downsides are the cost, and people get less efficient before they get more efficient. 'If the consultants are learning, the trainee surgeons can't learn from them. There is also some danger to operating a machine that is away from you, extending the time it takes to spot potential problems.' I'm very pro-robot but the downsides are the cost, and people get less efficient before they get more efficient Ben Challacombe He says reaction times with a camera view may not be as instant as up-close manual surgery. But most procedures go smoothly and, once theatres are fully up and running, the benefits are clear. The ops are less physically taxing for surgeons, which could let them extend their careers, as many suffer back or shoulder problems. Their speed and ease of use mean the machines can be used for high-intensity sessions when surgeons ramp up procedures at the weekend to help slash waiting lists. England has millions of patients waiting for 7.4million procedures. Mr Ahmed's team in Fulham last year took part in a 'super surgery weekend', when two departments at the hospital operated on 59 patients in two days. Professor Naeem Soomro, from the Royal College of Surgeons, said: 'Robot-assisted surgery is here to stay. 'Used well and for the right patients, it has the potential to bring benefits including greater precision, fewer blood transfusions, increased patient satisfaction and a faster return to work and family. 'To get the most out of these tools, it is essential to make sure that staff receive consistent, high-quality training to use them.' David Marante, vice president of Intuitive UK & Ireland, makers of Da Vinci robots, said: 'Innovative initiatives are bringing down waiting lists and improving productivity, helping save bed days, optimise staffing and improve efficiency.' HEALTH Secretary Wes Streeting is keen on robotic surgery after it saved his life. He said: 'I know from first-hand experience how technological advances in the health service can benefit patients. 'After I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the NHS saved my life with an operation led by a world-class surgeon being helped by a robot. 'Innovation like robot-assisted surgery isn't science fiction, it's the future of the health service. 'Through our Plan for Change, we are taking the NHS into the digital age and arming it with the high-tech kit it needs to slash waiting lists and get patients treated on time again.'
Sky News
08-05-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Woman found not guilty of having illegal abortion as case sparks calls for law reform
A woman has been found not guilty of having an illegal abortion during the second coronavirus lockdown. Nicola Packer, 45, cried as she was acquitted of "unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing" with the "intent to procure a miscarriage" at Isleworth Crown Court in southwest London. Ms Packer took abortion medication at home in November 2020. She brought the foetus to a London hospital in a backpack the next day, having passed it in a toilet, the court heard. Jurors were told Ms Packer, then 41, took prescribed medications mifepristone and misoprostol when she was around 26 weeks pregnant. The legal limit for taking medication at home for an abortion is 10 weeks. Prosecutors claimed Ms Packer knew she was more than 10 weeks pregnant, which she denied. Jurors rejected the prosecution's case and found the 45-year-old not guilty. She was supported by five people in the public gallery, who hugged each other after the verdict was delivered. During her trial, Ms Packer spoke of her "surprise" and "shock" at being pregnant - before breaking down in tears as she told the jury: "If I had known I was that far along I wouldn't have done it." "I wouldn't have put the baby or myself through it," she added. The court heard Ms Packer did not find out she was pregnant until taking a test on 2 November 2020, four days before she took the abortion medication. She spent the night of 7 November in hospital, having taken the foetus to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and was arrested by police the following day. Judge Martin Edmunds thanked the jurors for their attention in the case after the verdict was delivered. He added: "It is the prosecution, the CPS, who make decisions about whether to pursue criminal cases. They do so through guidelines which they have to apply… one of which is the public interest." Case leads to calls for abortion law reform The case has sparked calls for reform of abortion laws in England and Wales, with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service saying prosecuting women for abortions is "never in the public interest". 2:48 Katie Saxon, chief strategic communications officer, said: "In recent years, we have seen record numbers of women investigated for suspected illegal abortions. "Women are being arrested straight from the hospital ward, their homes searched, and their children taken away. This cannot continue." Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who supported Ms Packer in court during the trial, said it is "completely unacceptable" the 45-year-old was "forced to endure the indignity and turmoil of a trial". "The true injustice here is the years of her life stolen by a law written decades before women had the vote, for a 'crime' which doesn't even apply in two nations of the United Kingdom," she said. "This is utterly deplorable, and it is not justice. I do not see how this law can be defended any longer." A government spokesperson said any changes to abortion laws are "a matter of conscience for parliamentarians rather than the government". They added: "We recognise that this is an extremely sensitive issue, and there are strongly held views on all sides of the discussion. That is why, by longstanding convention, any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for parliamentarians rather than the government. "Decisions to prosecute, within existing legislation, are for the CPS and are incredibly rare."
BBC News
08-05-2025
- BBC News
Woman accused of illegal abortion cleared by jury
A woman accused of having an illegal abortion has been cleared by a Packer, 45, cried as she was acquitted of "unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing" with the "intent to procure a miscarriage".Her trial at Isleworth Crown Court heard she took abortion medicine at home during the second coronavirus lockdown, in November 2020, when she was about 26 weeks pregnant. Ms Packer later took the dead baby to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a legal limit for taking medication at home to terminate a pregnancy is 10 weeks, while the outer limit for any abortion in England, Scotland and Wales is 24 weeks, apart from in certain circumstances.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Woman in BDSM threesome who took foetus to hospital in rucksack after taking miscarriage pills is cleared of having an illegal abortion
A woman who took abortion pills during lockdown has been cleared of illegally terminating a pregnancy. Nicola Packer, 45, had taken abortion medication at her home on November 6, 2020. The then 41 year-old had taken prescribed medications mifepristone and misoprostol when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, jurors were previously told. She later delivered a feotus, which she brought to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a backpack the following day. Today, she has been found not guilty of 'unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing' with the 'intent to procure a miscarriage'. The 45-year-old cried and wiped her eyes with a tissue after she was acquitted at Isleworth Crown Court. The legal limit for taking medication at home for an abortion is 10 weeks. Prosecutors alleged that Packer knew she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks, which she denied. Jurors rejected the prosecution's case to find the 45-year-old not guilty of having an illegal abortion. Packer was supported by five people in the public gallery, with some hugging each other after the verdict was read to the court.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- The Independent
Woman accused of having illegal abortion in lockdown found not guilty
A woman accused of having an illegal abortion has been found not guilty. Nicola Packer, 45, took abortion medicine at home in November 2020 and later brought the foetus to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, her trial at Isleworth Crown Court heard. The 45-year-old was charged with 'unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing' with the 'intent to procure a miscarriage'. Ms Packer was found not guilty of the charge by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday.
