Surgery lift for hospital

Robotic equipment for public patients

PATIENTS will continue to have access to state-of-the-art robotic surgery, with the $4 million Da Vinci robot finding a permanent home at Geelong hospital.

An agreement for Barwon Health to use the technology at Geelong Private Hospital was previously in place but since the private hospital’s closure in May urological surgeries at Geelong hospital were continuing with loaned equipment.

Member for Bellarine Lisa Neville yesterday announced Barwon Health will now have ongoing access to its own Da Vinci Xi robot to perform a range of minimally-invasive operations — making Geelong home to Australia’s only regional public hospital based robotic service.

The cutting-edge surgery is mainly used to treat prostate cancer, but has also played a role in gynaecological proce- dures and ear, nose and throat surgery.

Ms Neville said the outcome will see public patients receive equal treatment to their private counterparts, with up to 80 public patients accessing the service in Geelong each year.

“Local surgeons have told us this equipment is essential for them to provide the very best treatment and care, and we’ve listened. We’ll ensure everyone who needs it can access robotic surgery,” she said.

The device’s four arms can each control different instruments to enable more precise surgery, meaning greater comfort, quicker recovery and a less complications for the patient compared with traditional open surgery.

The commitment to continued and equitable access to robotic surgery for public patients in Geelong was reached after months of advocacy by the hospital’s director of urological surgery, Richard Grills.

Mr Grills said the technology had contributed to improved outcomes in the two years it had been used in Geelong.

“As a surgeon, you want all of your patients to recover as quickly as possible, have a good outcome, get home to their family and back to regular activities,” he said.

“Our complication rate is proven to be very low and our length of stay has reduced from four or five days with open prostate surgery to one day with robotic surgery, while for kidney surgery it has gone from seven days to two days.”

Geelong resident Lindsay Fuller had robotic prostate surgery seven weeks ago and said he was pleasantly surprised he could leave the hospital the following day and be walking around days later.

“It’s fantastic that this surgery is available to public patients,” he said.

The new device will be delivered in two weeks and used within days of arriving.