HCA armed with four new robots
The Lister Hospital chief executive Suzy Canham (centre) with some of the hospital theatre team, alongside a new da Vinci Xi robot
By Agnes Rose
Robots are on the march and ready to train surgeons at HCA Healthcare UK.
The hospital group has spent £7m on four da Vinci Xi robots, which it says confirms its status as the largest provider of robotic surgery in the independent sector.
Consultants will benefit through a training hub set up to develop their robotic surgery skills, now at The Lister Hospital as well as The Princess Grace Hospital.
The fleet of HCA da Vinci systems totals seven across five hospitals. The others are at The Wellington, London Bridge and The Christie Private Care.
HCA announced it now has capacity to perform over 2,500 robotic-assisted procedures a year.
It is a landmark moment for The Lister Hospital, bringing the option for minimally invasive robotic assisted surgery for soft tissue via da Vinci technology to its patients for the first time, with an expected annual procedure rate of more than 250.
Chief executive Suzy Canham said: ‘We are proud to become HCA Healthcare UK’s second robotic surgery training hub, supporting consultants to develop their already extensive skills and bringing new opportunities for our theatre teams.’
Company president and chief executive John Reay said: ‘Our £7m investment in robotic surgery is part of a long-held commitment to ensuring that across our healthcare system we have the infrastructure and technology and capability to offer the consultants that practise with us, and the patients we care for, access to the latest in innovation and the breadth and depth of treatment options to support their individual needs.
‘Our capacity to deliver over 2,500 robotic surgeries a year presents us with a unique opportunity in the independent sector to play a leading role in the training of surgeons with robotic skills, which will have wider benefit as the use of robotic surgery continues to develop.’
HCA UK’s heritage of robotic innovation goes back to 2005 when it became the first in the independent sector to acquire a da Vinci robotic system.
David Marante, regional director at the robots’ makers Intuitive UK & Ireland, said its aim was to bring about better team and patient outcomes at a lower total cost to treat per patient episode.