Robotic surgery helping transform care for patients in Shropshire
A state-of-the-art surgical robot is being used at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Patients in Shropshire are benefiting from quicker recoveries with more operations now being assisted by a state-of-the-art surgical robot.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was already using the robotic system to assist with colorectal, gynaecology and urology surgery, but has recently extended the list to include upper gastrointestinal (UGI) surgery.
In UGI surgery, operations relate to the oesophagus (the food pipe), stomach and gall bladder. It also includes weight loss surgery and hernia surgery.
The Trust said using this technology for UGI procedures means that the patients are benefitting from higher quality care, with less pain after surgery and usually going home the same day.
The robot enables surgeons to perform an operation with even more precision and in a less invasive way.
Dr John Jones, Executive Medical Director, said: “We first introduced robotic assisted surgery to the Trust in 2023, and it moved us into a new era of using innovative technology to deliver high quality care for our patients.
“It is fantastic that we are now performing robotic assisted surgery on UGI patients, helping them to recover more quickly and with fewer complications. This marks another step forward to transform healthcare for our everyone in our communities.”
Mr Saurav Chakravartty, Consultant UGI Surgeon who performs robotic surgery at SaTH, said: “Using the robot allows us to use state-of-the-art, high quality precision surgery to obtain good patient outcomes.
“Being able to perform this type of surgery on UGI patients is an exciting milestone, and it is already making a positive difference for both patients and staff.”