Minister keen to roll out surgical robots in NHS amid record treatment waiting times

MORE robots are set to be rolled out across the NHS after the success of pioneering technology in London.

- Jitendra Joshi

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is keen to promote technology to improve treatment and recovery times for patients undergoing keyhole and other surgery. The £1.5 million Da Vinci surgical robot, one of two in use at Charing Cross Hospital, was put through its paces by Mr Barclay on a visit during which doctors showed him the benefits of the equipment.

He remotely manipulated a banana and pound coin, emulating the training given to surgeons who operate the robots at the sprawling facility in Hammersmith, where bosses want funding for more of the expensive tools to operate on urological and throat cancers. “What’s very interesting is the fact that patient recovery from keyhole surgery is far quicker,” Mr Barclay said.