Millions of NHS patients will receive robotic surgery to help cut wait times
Millions of NHS patients will be operated on with robot assistance as part of a radical plan to cut waiting times.
NHS England announced that 500,000 operations will be conducted with robot assistance every year by 2035, up from 70,000 in 2023/24.
9 in 10 of all keyhole surgeries, such as the removal of certain organs affected by cancer, will be delivered with robot assistance within the next 10 years, up from 1 in 5 today.
Robotic keyhole surgery involves using instruments controlled by a surgeon at a console using a 3D camera. In orthopaedic robot procedures, the robot is programmed to perform elements of the procedure.
This approach would make robotic surgery the default for many operations, and the NHS said it expects robots to be involved in an increasing number of emergency operations due to their precision over the human hand.
Reducing wait times with robotic surgery
These changes form part of the NHS’s strategy to reduce wait times for procedures across the country.
“The NHS has pledged to return to shorter elective waiting times by 2029 and we are using every tool at our disposal to ensure patients get the best possible treatment,” said NHS Chief Executive Sir Jim Mackey.
“Expanding the use of new and exciting tech such as robotic surgery will play a huge part in this.”
“Not only does it speed up the number of procedures the NHS can do, but it also means better outcomes, a faster recovery and shorter hospital stays for patients,” he said.
While robotic assistance will be increasingly used for keyhole surgeries, it will also become increasingly prevalent across other types of surgery.
The NHS said five systems for soft tissue procedures, such as hernia repair, removal of tumours, and gallbladder removal, and six for orthopaedic surgery, such as full and partial knee replacement procedures and hip replacements, have received conditional approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) while they undergo further evaluation, meaning the use of this technology can be expanded further across the NHS.
