SURGERY
Spotlight on the future of surgery
The first ever Future Surgery event to take place in-person saw thousands of clinicians uniting at ExCeL London. Over the two days, exhibitors shared insights and training, enabling the entire perioperative team to reflect and learn how technology and new ways of working are revolutionising patient care and outcomes.
Alongside 96 exhibitors showcasing the latest developments in surgery, the Future Surgery show took place on the 9-10 November – bringing together over 150 world-renowned speakers and experts as part of a CPD accredited programme. The event was co-produced with the Royal College of Surgeons of England to explore a wide array of core topics – from disruptive technology, connectivity and human factors; to global health innovation, training and research. The event hosted, for the first time, the annual Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) Innovation Summit to promote best practice in surgical training. The findings of the COVID-STAR study1
have previously
revealed the extent of the challenges facing surgical training in the wake of COVID-19 – 41% of survey respondents reported that they had been redeployed during the pandemic and there was a complete loss of training in elective operating, outpatient settings and endoscopy settings for over 65% of trainees. Only 9% reported that they would meet all required competences.2 Unsurprisingly, the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training was high on the agenda. However, discussion also turned to the challenges ahead in terms of access to robotic training for the next generation of surgeons. Mark Slack, co-founder and CMO at CMR Surgical, acknowledged the challenges that trainees have faced in terms of robotics exposure – which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. “There is limited access to robotic programmes in the UK, a limited number of robotic centres and a limited number of robotics trainers,” he commented. Slack pointed out that there are “many hurdles to overcome” – access to robotics tends to be dominated by consultants and the technology is not always shared with trainees.
JANUARY 2022
Guy’s and St Thomas’ have become the first in London to adopt the Versius robot. Robotic surgery is advancing at pace and proved to be a hot topic at the Future Surgery show.
Lolade Giwa-Brown, president of the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) presented the findings of a census that was carried out to establish levels of access to robotic training in the UK.
“Seventy-two percent of all trainees had no access at all to robotic training. That’s quite a stark figure,” she commented. The survey further investigated the barriers to access. These included: l The consultant’s learning curve. l Access to different robotic systems. l The evidence base in some specialties is currently lacking.
Giwa-Brown said that trainees currently master open surgery, then move on to minimally invasive/laparoscopic surgery; once they have mastered this, they progress
on to robotic surgery. She argued that trainees should be learning robotics right from the start. “Over 80% of radical prostatectomies
are performed robotically, and one third of cystectomies are performed using a robot. We cannot reach a situation where we are performing this number of procedures robotically and expect good outcomes with trainees who are not trained in this,” she warned. A survey by ASiT showed that around 64% of trainees believe that robotic training should become part of the core curriculum.
Virtual reality Virtual reality and haptics are expected to form an increasing role in surgical training and the technology is advancing at pace. Chris Scattergood, co-founder of
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