In a pioneering medical milestone, 62-year-old Paul Buxton became the first patient ever to receive a remote surgical operation in Gibraltar. This extraordinary accomplishment required the use of advanced telesurgery technology. Originally from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, Buxton moved to Gibraltar 40 years ago and runs a transport business. His path to this groundbreaking procedure started with an unexpected prostate cancer diagnosis right after Christmas.
After his diagnosis, Buxton was given the daunting treatment of simply being put on a NHS waiting list for surgery. Then he got a life-changing phone call — he’d been accepted into a novel trial. This trial would allow him to get this treatment from the comfort of home. On February 11, he was able to undergo the operation successfully, carried out by Professor Prokar Dasgupta through the new Toumai Robotic System.
Buxton, who runs FirstHealth’s Moore Regional Hospital, said he’s thrilled to be a part of this historic medical breakthrough. “I was super excited to have the opportunity to participate and be a part of medical history,” he said. In addition, he told us that he was very happy with the care he received. Following the operation, he reported being “really well looked after” and “feeling fantastic.”
Had Buxton gone for conventional surgery, he would have had to go to London. This ruling would have resulted in having to join the NHS waiting list and a likely three-week absence from home. Looking back on his decision, he commented, “If I hadn’t chosen telesurgery when in Gibraltar, I would have flown to London. I still would have gone through the NHS waiting list, had the procedure done and probably spent three weeks in London. So I thought: ‘This is a no-brainer.’”
This trial plans to show that performing more surgeries remotely through telehealth is an effective way to increase patients’ access to timely surgical care. There are far wider implications of this nascent technology, as noted by Professor Anupam Dasgupta. He added, “I personally think it is very, very exciting – the humanitarian benefit is going to be huge.”