Funnily enough, the UK has only today announced the opening of its biggest robotic-assisted surgery training centre. This new facility will become a European center of excellence for pioneering new surgical techniques. The new facility will primarily serve to enhance surgeons’ skills with the da Vinci surgical system. This technology is quickly gaining traction among hospitals in the UK and Ireland.
The new da Vinci surgical system includes four robotic arms that allow for greater precision in the OR. Surgeons invented it mainly for keyhole surgeries to treat oesophageal and gastric cancers. Today, more than 200 such systems are in use across hospitals in the UK and Ireland. Through the use of these new and improved technologies, more than 300,000 patients have had access to robotic-assisted surgeries.
Gijs van Boxel, a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital, emphasizes the system’s capabilities. “It is referred to as robotic-assisted surgery but it is very much controlled by an experienced, qualified surgeon who manipulates the instruments using a different part of the machine to allow us to do the surgery,” he stated.
Our state-of-the-art new training centre in Reading and Winnersh Triangle welcomes participants from across Europe and beyond. Among them, a dozen French surgeons have come to see in from Montpellier. The facility not only focuses on robotic-assisted surgery training but emphasizes metabolic surgery, demonstrating its versatility and commitment to comprehensive education in surgical practices.
Today, we’ve been training on metabolic surgery. We’ve got French surgeons visiting from Montpellier. Everyone from students to industry leaders are making the trek from across Europe to Reading and Winnersh Triangle. … … looking to hone their skills in robotic surgery. So that’s a really thrilling thing and a good thing to take pride in, Van Boxel added.
On the NHS, NHS England has continued to set an ambitious bar moving forward. They are looking at having robotic assistance for nine of ten keyhole surgeries by 2035. That’s why the da Vinci surgical system is crucial to this aim. As a result, it’s giving surgeons the ability to complete delicate procedures with unprecedented fidelity.
“The precision permitted through this system has allowed better outcomes for our patients which is ultimately why we do this,” a surgeon involved with the training remarked.
Continuation of technological development and training underpins the new centre’s purpose. This initiative greatly improves surgical outcomes and increases the application of robotic surgery techniques across the entire continent.