Surgeons complete week’s worth of operations in a day with robot assistance

Surgeons at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital carried out a week’s worth of operations in one day to help reduce the surgery backlog.

Eight men with prostate cancer underwent a robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy, which was the first time in the UK that one hospital has completed eight cases of this kind in one day.

The Trust said it had developed a “super-efficient” but safe programme to maximise the number of patients treated using high intensity theatre lists – known as HIT lists. 

They focus on one type of procedure at a time, take place at weekends and require careful planning to select suitable patients.

So far the Trust has held 17 HIT lists and treated 344 patients across eight specialities, including gastrointestinal, gynaecology, orthopaedics and ear, nose and throat (ENT).

Mick Jennings, from West Dulwich, was one of the eight men who recently had a robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy at Guy’s Hospital.

The 59-year-old said: “It was great – I was told that the surgery was part of a HIT list beforehand, so I was prepared for everything to be quicker than usual.

“You could tell the staff were really energised with the concept and really keen to do their best. I didn’t find the pace a problem at all – I found they were trying super hard to do it well.”

Dr Ben Challacombe, who led the surgery, said: “We have taken a week off our waiting list by carrying out these surgeries in one day – usually we would do six to eight of these procedures in a week.”

The innovation and organisation of the HIT lists has been led by Dr Imran Ahmad, consultant anaesthetist and deputy clinical director, who said: “For many surgical procedures, the time required to perform the actual surgery is significantly less than the time spent preparing and anaesthetising the patient, setting up the equipment and helping the patient to recover – in some cases the operating time can be as little as 30 per cent of the duration of the whole operating list.”

Pictured top: Guy’s and St Thomas’ staff involved in the HIT list (Picture: Guy’s and St Thomas’)