Robot carries out more than 450 surgical operations at Milton Keynes Hospital

Hundreds of surgical operations are being carried out by a robot at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

The robotic surgeon has successfully completed more than 450 ops, including hysterectomies, colorectal cases, upper GI surgery and even complex cancer cases..

It improves outcomes, upskills teams, enables patients to go home sooner and, importantly, cuts down long waiting lists, says the NHS.

This week NHS in east of England announced the number of longest waits has been reduced by almost quarter in a month – despite the busiest winter ever.

In MK, much of this is down to the robot surgeon, which is officially known as the Versius Surgical Robotic System. Experts say the robots can enable a much wider uptake of keyhole surgery, with faster recovery times for patients, less time in hospital and reduced risk of infection.

Milton Keynes University Hospital became the first in Europe to use the system for major gynaecological surgery in 2019.

Since then the robot’s skills have developed to cover more types of operations all over the body. The hospital has been able to develop a multi-speciality robotic programme for abdominal surgery, across a range of benign, complex benign, and cancer procedures, including the world’s first abdominal wall reconstruction.

During lockdown, the robotic system proved invaluable as it allowed major and complex gynae procedures to continue at the hospital when they might otherwise have been cancelled.

Barrie Keeler, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at MKUH, said: “The introduction of the Versius Surgical Robotic System has gone from strength to strength over the last three years and has been proven to make a demonstrable positive impact to both patient outcomes and the experience that patients receive.

“We are hugely excited about the future opportunities available to further enhance and transform the way we see and treat patients and will continue to work closely with the team at CMR to develop the service.”

Versius is described as the only small and modular surgical robot powered by a digitally native ecosystem.

Built for precision, dexterity and versatility, it has been specifically designed to meet the needs of patients, surgeons and the surgical team. By providing minimal access surgery with enhanced accuracy and control for complex procedures, it helps surgical teams deliver high-quality surgical care, say the manufacturers.