Study examines how robots can assist NHS day case surgery

A robotic-assisted day case surgery study and programme at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is examining how da Vinci surgical systems can improve patient outcomes and support sustainable productivity in the NHS.

The programme forms part of a three-year study at the day surgery unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA), which began in September 2023, to assess the impact of robotic-assisted day case surgery on patient outcomes, productivity and efficiency across the hospital.

Since the study began, surgeons have performed more than 400 day case robotic procedures across multiple surgical specialties on a da Vinci Xi dual console surgical system.

Findings from the study will 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”.

All existing keyhole surgery at QA have been converted to robotic-assisted surgery under the first phase of the study of the three-year programme.

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, which makes 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”.

In May 2024, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals introduced the da Vinci Xi robot and carried out the region’s first robotic-assisted surgery hysterectomy for a patient with severe endometriosis.

Meanwhile, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust carried out the first robot-assisted hysterectomy in Kent and Medway at Darrent Valley Hospital in July 2024.