Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has installed CMR Surgical’s Versius solution at an East Surrey Hospital as part of a multi-specialty programme.
Initially, the surgical robot will be used in urology before expanding to colorectal, upper GI, gynaecology and general surgery. The robot will assist in various multi-specialty procedures, including complex cancer cases.
CMR said Versius has been adopted by the Trust to offer patients greater access to minimal access surgery (MAS), otherwise known as keyhole surgery. MAS is associated with a range of benefits for patients including less pain, reduced risk of infection, reduced recovery time and a shorter stay in hospital compared with traditional open surgery.
The company provided an example – in nephrectomies, the removal of a kidney, MAS has been found to typically reduce a patient’s time in hospital by half.
Michael Wilson, chief executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to be making history at the Trust today with the introduction of our first surgical robot which will be part of a multi-specialty programme.
“It’s fantastic that with Versius, surgical robotics has become more accessible than ever before, allowing many more patients to benefit from the latest health technology within their local communities.”
According to CMR, the continued expansion of Versius within the NHS represents an important development as it continues to demonstrate significant value to patients, surgeons and leading health systems globally.
Mark Slack, chief medical officer at CMR Surgical, added: “We are thrilled that the team at East Surrey has chosen to adopt Versius to support them in offering more MAS to patients across the hospital.
“In designing Versius our goal was to provide a versatile and portable surgical robotic system – that could fit into virtually any operating room – to realise our mission to transform the field of minimal access surgery and make it available to many more patients around the world.”
