North Devon District Hospital has welcomed a new robotic surgical assistant. This groundbreaking invention led the charge for surgeons to perform complex, recurrent ventral hernia repairs like never before. Since its introduction in summer 2023, this revolutionary robotic system has been the key to performing 370 abdominal wall surgeries. This technology has shortened recovery times dramatically and improved patient comfort. What required a stay of five days in the hospital can now be done as a same-day procedure.
Unsurprisingly, even with these technological innovations, the robot is butting up against operational challenges from lack of space in the operating theatres. Its current schedule has it out of action one day a week. Further, it is open 15% of the time or less to serve other critical, non-elective procedures. It has caused major frustrations among the surgical team and revealed a need for more theatre space, which became extremely urgent.
Prof David Sanders, the hospital’s clinical director of surgery, welcomes the robotic system and its potential. “We could be using this robot every day of the week but at the moment, there’s one day a week it’s not used because the theatres are needed for other operations,” he stated. Instead, massive waiting lists for necessary, life-altering surgeries get larger by the day. At the same time, the number of surgeons available continues to shrink, compounding the crisis.
The real winners of this robotic system are the patients. It has great utility as a training device for future surgeons around the world. Many have spent up to a year at North Devon District Hospital to gain experience in robotic abdominal wall surgery. As exciting as these developments are, training new surgeons to master these techniques is expected to continue to be a hospital trust’s primary focus.
“Ultimately the robot offers great treatment for patients and the more people we can get trained in the techniques, the better.” – Prof David Sanders
Unlike traditional surgery that uses a single incision, robotic surgery leaves three tiny scars. This improvement has a huge impact on patients’ overall experience and increases the speed at which they’re able to recover. Prof Sanders pointed out that the current infrastructure limits the hospital’s ability to fully utilize this innovative technology. “We have a massive mismatch in the waiting lists which are very large, the available surgeons to do the procedures and the limiting factor is the space to do it in,” he explained.
The hospital has a very difficult road ahead of them. Rebuilding North Devon District Hospital will not begin until 2035. A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care has reiterated just that. Addressing these critical issues is a top priority for them. “The NHS estate we inherited is crumbling but we have already allocated £1 billion to address the backlog of critical NHS maintenance and repairs to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable,” they stated.
North Devon District Hospital is embracing robotic surgery to deliver better patient outcomes. The hospital will never live up to its promise without more operating theatre space.