Da Vinci... the £1m robot surgeon that’s state of the art

A SCOTS hospital has become the first in the UK to dedicate a state-of-the-art robotic surgery system for lung patients.

The £1.3million Da Vinci system allows surgeons to perform operations through a few small incisions, instead of more invasive procedures which take longer to heal.

The cutting-edge technology is controlled by a surgeon from a console in the operating theatre and could have a transformational impact on recovery times.

The Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, is the first unit in the UK to dedicate such a robotics system to lung patients within its thoracic services team.

While similar machines have been installed at several NHS facilities across the country, the one at the Golden Jubilee is the first to be used solely by a thoracic unit.

Doctors believe the system will pay for itself in the long term by allowing patients to return home quicker and need less care.

Cardiothoracic consultant Alan Kirk has used the Da Vinci system on lung patients.

He said: ‘It is probably standard care for most urology or prostate cancer work and over the past five years in the UK, people have diversified and started using it for chest surgery. We are the first unit in the whole of the UK to buy one specifically for lung surgery.

‘Although it looks very complicated, it’s really an extension of what we already do on a keyhole and minimally invasive platform – but this takes things one stage further forward.’ There are currently 38 units delivering lung cancer and chest surgery across the UK, eight of which have access to robotics.