Robot-assisted surgery
Looking East at leadership in robotics
The AfPP Robotics Symposium was recently held at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has achieved some impressive milestones and advances in robotic surgery in recent years. Leading experts gathered at the centre to discuss the challenges and opportunities in this pioneering field. Louise Frampton reports.
Taking place at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH), the AfPP’s robotic symposium highlighted the vital role of pioneering robotic surgical techniques in driving improvements in patient outcomes. Safe implementation of the latest robotic technologies is a top priority – with training and teamworking central to ensuring successful outcomes. The event sessions explored the impact of
different robotic systems on theatre workflows, lessons for introducing a new robotic surgery programme, safe patient positioning, anaesthetic considerations, and the challenges and opportunities around robot-assisted surgery. Chairing the symposium was Adrian Jones – a past president of the AfPP. As a retired Orthopaedic Surgical Care Practitioner, Adrian continues to support the next generation of Surgical Care Practitioners and Surgical First Assistants. As an external examiner, he works closely with the academic team and students at Anglia Ruskin University as they continue to develop these roles within their own surgical
care/extended surgical teams. “Robotics is here to stay,” he exclaimed, adding that, “We need to have the right people, in the right place, at the right time.” Adrian emphasised the importance of
progressing safer surgery, commenting that training for both surgeons and surgical teams is vital. “The rest of the surgical care team is so important,” he asserted.
Leading the future of robotic surgery Alex Allen, Clinical Lead for Robotic Surgery and Perioperative Equipment, provided an insight into the evolution of robotic surgery at NNUH. Alex has worked within a variety of specialties at the Trust, but her robotic journey began when she moved into ENT and Head and Neck surgery, following a reorganisation during the COVID-19 pandemic. She helped implement robotic surgery in Head and Neck surgery at the Trust, developing business cases and training the teams. The role of Clinical Lead for Robotic Surgery was first created in January
2025 – ensuring a dedicated leader to drive the programme forward. The Trust initially embarked on robot-
assisted surgery in urology, in 2016, and robotic assisted prostatectomy soon became a routine procedure at the Trust, offering quicker recovery times and reduced stays in hospital. By 2017, it was the first hospital in East Anglia to perform robotic colorectal cancer surgery. Surgeons have now carried out more than 5,000 robotic assisted procedures at the Trust across a variety of surgical specialties. Additionally, in 2023, the Trust became the first hospital in the UK (and among the first in Europe), to carry out robot-assisted bowel cancer surgery as a day case. It combined two innovations – robot- assisted surgery and the Virtual Ward. The state-of-the-art robotic surgery meant that the patient was able to recover at home within 23 hours of admission to NNUH – the national average length of stay for patients needing high anterior resection of the rectum is seven days. In March 2025, the first fully Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Oesophagectomy (RAMIO) was performed at the hospital – making NNUH one of only five sites across the UK to offer this highly specialist surgery. “My aim is for the Trust to become a flagship
centre for robotic surgery, and a centre for research and education to drive this forward,” Alex commented. “In 2021, we developed a pilot programme allowing registrars to train on the robotic systems, which has upskilled our workforce and helped future proof our services. “It has enabled registrars to be able to carry
Lee Moreton and Mr Penney, plus the team who cared for him.
out bowel cancer operations using our robotic technology. We are required by the government to continually develop and innovate, to improve efficiencies on a daily basis, and to predict future trends – to ensure we meet the demands of service users,” she continued. To deliver on this, the Trust is committed to ensuring that staff have the training they
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