Paul Buxton, a 62-year-old cancer patient and owner of a local transport company recently made medical history. He was the first person to have a telesurgery operation from thousands of miles away. On February 11, a ground-breaking operation took place in Gibraltar. One of the UK’s leading robotic urological surgeons performed surgical procedures from 2,400 kilometres away using tele‐robotics technology.
Buxton, who hails from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, moved to Gibraltar four decades ago. Then came the bombshell diagnosis of prostate cancer shortly after Christmas — and an even more challenging road to recovery. Without joining the telesurgery trial, he would have needed to travel to London. He would have waited on the NHS exclusive waiting list and could have spent up to three weeks away from home.
Reflecting on his decision to partake in the trial, Buxton remarked, “If I hadn’t gone for the telesurgery in Gibraltar, then I would have had to have flown to London, I would have had to go on the NHS waiting list, get the procedure done and I would have probably been in London for three weeks.” His enthusiasm for this groundbreaking procedure was clear as he talked about being a part of “medical history.”
The first telesurgery procedure employed the Toumai Robotic System. Currently, UK-based professor Prokar Dasgupta, the surgical principal investigator, controlled the robotic instruments in real time. The console in the UK was then linked to the robotic system in Gibraltar via fibre-optic cables. A backup 5G link—in case there was an outage—delivered fail-safe communication throughout the surgery.
After the surgery, Buxton was “feeling awesome.” He had high praise for the care he received, stating that he had been “really well looked after” for the whole process. His experience illustrates how telesurgery can transform patient care on a global scale. This intentional strategy is even more important for those facing distance or those facing a lack of access to health services.
Through his groundbreaking work, Professor Dasgupta demonstrates the dramatic leaps in medical technology that make remote surgeries possible. This powerful new approach significantly improves access for patients such as Buxton. More importantly, it lays the groundwork for new surgical practices worldwide.