UK first robotic-assisted day case surgery programme launched in Portsmouth

The UK’s first robotic-assisted day case surgery programme has launched at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) to demonstrate how da  Vinci surgical systems can be harnessed to improve patient outcomes and support sustainable productivity improvements in the NHS.

Surgeons have already performed more than 400 day case robotic procedures across multiple surgical specialties on a da Vinci Xi dual console surgical system. The system is installed in the Day Surgery Unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA), which is dedicated solely to day case procedures.

Whilst examples of robotic-assisted day case surgery exist in some hospitals across the NHS, this is the UK’s first programme to have a dedicated da Vinci system based in a day surgery unit, creating increased capacity for surgeons to treat patients with a wider range of conditions with robotic-assisted surgery.

Clinicians at PHU are undertaking a study to assess the impact of this on patient outcomes, productivity and efficiency across the hospital over the course of the next three years, and hope that once published, the findings could inform a blueprint for a wider roll-out of robotic-assisted surgery in day case settings across the NHS.

Professor Jim Khan, Consultant Surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, and Chief Investigator of the study said: “We have already proven that robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci systems can deliver better outcomes for patients when used in our main hospital theatres for cancer and complex benign procedures. We believe that if we apply the use of this technology to our day surgery practice, robotic-assisted surgery could enable us to treat more patients, across more specialties, whilst providing a valuable resource for safe training of surgeons and theatre staff, as well as improve productivity across the wider hospital. This is the concept we’re evaluating in this study.”

Mr Stuart Mercer, Clinical Director, and Consultant Surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust who is leading the programme said: “We’re delighted to continue to build on the strong foundations of our multi-specialty robotics programme by bringing robotic-assisted surgery using da Vinci technology to the new environment of the Day Surgery Unit.

“This dedicated programme has allowed us to design workforce and workflow around the da Vinci surgical system, so that we can truly explore the impact that this innovative technology can have for patients, hospitals and the NHS if applied in a day case setting.”

The first phase of the three-year programme has already seen all existing keyhole day case surgery at QA being converted to robotic-assisted surgery.

The programme will now expand to convert a proportion of current in-patient robotic procedures to day cases with a 23-hour hospital stay and remote monitoring.

Until now, the use of available robotic-assisted surgical systems has been prioritised by the NHS for malignant procedures, limiting clinical access to systems for simpler or complex benign procedures.

David Marante, Vice President of Intuitive UK & Ireland, makers of the da Vinci surgical system said: “It’s an honour to work collaboratively and support the care teams at Portsmouth in expanding their da Vinci programme into the day surgery unit to demonstrate the value of da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery in helping to improve patient outcomes, increasing productivity and therefore lowering the total cost of care in the outpatient setting in the NHS.”