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If you need an operation in the future, there’s a good chance a robot could be involved. Around 70,000 robot-assisted surgeries are performed every year in England. But the plan is for that number to grow to half a million surgeries by the year 2035. In the recent budget, the UK government announced £100 million would be spent speeding up the rollout of robots across operating theatres in England. Those in favour say it is better for patients and surgeons – but why is that and how strong is the evidence? And with robotic systems costing millions of pounds, is this a good use of NHS funds?
Laura Foster dons her scrubs and is invited into an operating theatre at Southmead Hospital in Bristol to witness a robotic surgery and speaks to surgeons and patients about how it works.
Then a panel of experts, including Nuha Yassin from the Royal College of Surgeons England, Professor John McGrath from the NHS England Robotic Surgery steering committee and general practitioner and director of the Centre for Evidence and Values in Healthcare at St Andrews University, Dr Margaret McCartney, discuss the pros and cons of the technology.
Presenter: Laura Foster
Producer: Imogen Harper and Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Sound engineer: Mary Stone
Production coordinator: Stu Laws
The show was made by the BBC Audio’s Science Unit in collaboration with The Open University.
