Royal Stoke University Hospital will soon be the biggest robotic surgery centre in the UK. This accomplishment follows a $151 million expansion project intended to increase its surgical capacity. The hospital’s colourful facade makes it an eye-catcher among the otherwise dull architecture of Stoke-on-Trent. Plus its bright red and yellow lower section make it a beautiful and distinctive landmark in the community.
The ambitious $10 million Royal Stoke project will move it one step closer to the ultimate goal. It will allow the hospital to become a national center of excellence on robotic surgery. This innovative hospital will be the first of its kind in the UK, utilizing pioneering new technology. It gives surgeons the ability to haptically sense tissue resistance in real time during a procedure. Driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning, this innovative tool marks a new era of surgical precision, patient care and outcomes.
It’s estimated that the new project will result in saving approximately 3,000 bed days annually. With expansion, this number would increase to at least 5,000 bed days per year. Philip Varghese is a consultant colorectal surgeon at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM). He provided us with his thoughts on some of the anticipated impacts of the initiative.
“This expansion significantly strengthens our ability to deliver robotic surgery across a wider range of complex procedures.” – Philip Varghese
Royal Stoke’s robotic surgery is set to transform minimally invasive (keyhole) surgery. In just a decade, 90% of these surgeries — including the removal of the organs in which cancers develop so they can’t spread — will be done with the help of robotic arms, projections indicate. With this transition, robotic surgery will become the preferred approach to a majority of procedures at the medical center.
Royal Stoke gained national attention in the past, having been the first hospital in England to use the advanced “Magic Leap” surgical system. This ground-breaking technology provides surgeons with detailed three-dimensional images of a patient’s spine. Using specially designed virtual reality goggles, they can emulate the function of performing super nuanced complex surgeries.
This new project will advance care for more than 1,000 patients each year. It will require a network of complex procedures, including emergency and heart surgery. The NHS plans for robotic surgery to help deliver some 70,000 surgeries in England over the 2023-24 financial year. By 2035, they expect that number to jump to 500,000.
Coates, representing the foundation that’s funding much of this initiative, stressed the importance of the community to the project’s success.
“Supporting projects that make a lasting difference to local communities remains a core focus of the foundation.” – Coates
“This investment will allow more patients across the region to benefit from world-leading surgical care closer to home.” – Coates
