Frimley Health, an established surgical robotics centre, and has become the first hospital in the UK to use CMR Surgical’s Versius surgical robot in urology, as well as in colorectal surgery.
Frimley Health has used Versius to perform a range of minimal access surgery (MAS) procedures including radical nephrectomy to treat kidney cancer, and high anterior resections and sigmoidectomy to treat bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
Henry Tilney, consultant colorectal surgeon at Frimley Health, said: “The introduction of Versius at Frimley Health is a major step forward as we seek to maintain our centre as a leader in surgical robotics and make this technology a routine part of clinical practice.
“Our intention is that it will be used to help perform a range of surgical procedures including complex cancer cases – allowing us to offer the benefits of minimal access surgery to our patients, which include faster recovery times and reduced risk of infection.
“Versius now gives us the ability to use this technique for hundreds more patients than has been previously possible and is marking the start of a new, important era in this field.”
Frimley Health joins a number of early adopters of Versius in the UK including NHS Lothian’s Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Mark Slack, chief medical officer at CMR Surgical, said the company was delighted Frimley Health had chosen to expand its surgical robotics programme with the robotic solution.
“In designing Versius our goal was to provide a versatile, portable, and cost-effective surgical robotic system that could transform the field of minimal access surgery – allowing more patients to benefit than currently do.
“The introduction of Versius at Frimley Health does just that, and crucially at a time when patients, surgeons and hospitals are facing unexpected health and economic challenges.”
