In SHT’s North Devon District Hospital, an £2 million state-of-the-art surgical robot was launched in the summer of 2023. Though magic in its impact, unfortunately, it’s still underutilized due to a lack of operating theatres. The robot is particularly noted for its ability to perform robotic abdominal wall surgery. It safely and successfully repairs complex conditions such as ventral hernias. Though it could help with all of these things, the hospital has run into issues that prevent the robot from being available.
Since its introduction, the surgical team has worked on 370 abdominal wall cases with the robot successfully. It is out of use 15% of the time, mostly from a lack of available theatre space. The hospital has a regular schedule of occurring operations that always take precedence. Consequently, the robot is not utilized one day per week.
Prof. David Sanders, clinical director of surgery at North Devon District Hospital, noted the advantages of robotic surgery. He stated that it “reduced recovery times, improved patient comfort and freed up valuable hospital beds.” This technology allows patients requiring ventral hernia repairs to undergo procedures that can turn a five-day hospital stay into a same-day discharge.
The new surgical robot features cutting-edge technology which allows for smaller incisions. This innovation allows patients to realize the fruits of this innovation with three small scars versus one large scar. Beyond directly impacting the quality of patient care, the robot has proven to be an invaluable training tool for budding surgeons. It’s why surgeons from all over the world dedicate up to a year at the hospital. Not only do they learn the valuable hands-on experience with this cutting-edge technology.
Prof. Sanders emphasized the importance of training surgeons in robotic abdominal wall surgery, stating, “Ultimately the robot offers great treatment for patients and the more people we can get trained in the techniques the better.” He expressed frustration over the current operational limitations, asserting, “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.”
The challenges North Devon District Hospital is experiencing are part of a larger trend across the National Health Service (NHS). Prof. Sanders pointed out, “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.”
In response, a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) admitted problems with infrastructure were “legacy challenges”. They stepped up immediately to the challenge. They stated, “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.” The DHSC promised to ensure that they are focused on making required improvements through both investment and reform.