Surgeons and operating theatre colleagues at Musgrove Park Hospital have thanked charities affiliated with the hospital for their generous donations to help buy a specialist operating table for robotic surgery.
The Somerset Bowel Cancer Charity, Musgrove Park League of Friends, Love Musgrove and Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment (SURE) each raised tens of thousands of pounds, following a range of fundraising events in 2024.
Musgrove Park Hospital had its first taste of robotic surgery back in 2023 following an incredibly generous £1.5 million donation from the League of Friends and its supporters.
The Da Vinci robot has already meant that surgeons have been able to perform more intricate operations with minimally invasive surgery, improving the experience of our patients.
Now, the new operating table makes it much easier for surgeons to use the robot, saving crucial set up time that could free up slots for more patients to have surgery on a single list.
“We were so pleased last year to have such a generous gift of a Da Vinci robot from our League of Friends,” said Mr Tom Edwards, a colorectal surgeon at the hospital.
“This specialist operating table really is the icing on the cake, as it means we can use the robot to the absolute best of its ability.
“It’ll mean that we can get through operating cases quicker thanks to a reduction in the preparation and set up time, with the potential of being able to schedule in more patients for surgery on a single day, helping to bring down our waiting times.
“It’s so much better to have the robot paired up with the operating table, as up until now we’ve been using a standard operating table that wasn’t calibrated for the robot.
“While this was perfectly safe, it did mean it was taking a bit too long for us to move things around, as our theatres support colleagues had to undock the robot, and then redock it once we’d moved the patient – it wasn’t ideal.
“In fact, it tended to cost us around an extra 20 minutes for each patient, so we’re now gaining around an hour a day with the new operating table.
“On behalf of all our surgeons and theatres colleagues I want to say a huge thank you to all of our charities for helping us to improve robotic surgery at Musgrove.”
Zoe Steer, head of fundraising at Love Musgrove, added: “Donations to the hospital’s charitable funds are channelled directly into making a difference for patients.
“Love Musgrove was delighted to help fund this equipment and it was great to have been able to come together with the other charities that raise funds for the hospital.
“I think it’s an incredible achievement that, together, we’ve been able to provide a table that assists with the robot.”
Maria Salter, one of our colorectal cancer nurse specialists and also a representative of the Somerset Bowel Cancer Charity, said: “A large part of the money that our bowel cancer charity put forward was donated to us by the late Charles Clark, whose family held a memorial auction following his death, so we want to say a huge thank you to his family.”
Clinton Rogers, president of the League of Friends of Musgrove Park Hospital, said the charity was delighted to support the purchase of the specialist operating table.
“The League of Friends raised £1.5 million to pay for the robotic surgery to introduce robotic surgery to Musgrove, so when we were approached for extra money to fund the table it made perfect sense,” he says.
“Providing the best possible equipment for the hospital is a clear aim of our charity. It not only improves the life of patients, but it helps with the recruitment and retention of the best colleagues.
“We are enormously grateful to members of the public who continue to support us as generously as they do.”
Paul Alway, chair of the Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment (SURE) charity, said:
“Whilst SURE’s main focus is radiotherapy, we are committed to providing patients with the best possible cancer treatment, and surgery can play a key role for some patients.
“SURE was pleased to support the League of Friends’ fundraising for the robotic operating table, along with the other hospital charities, working together to ensure the new robot can be used to its full extent.”
Mr Richard Bamford, also a colorectal surgeon at Musgrove Park Hospital, said: “It’s fantastic that we are at the cutting edge of surgical technology in Somerset, where we can provide the most minimally invasive surgery possible across a number of different specialties – it’s really exciting.
“Now the robot can be used by our bariatric, upper GI, urology, gynae-oncology, colorectal, and soon to be ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons too.
“We celebrated our 200th surgery performed by the robot in August 2024 and to get through that many cases across the hospital is fantastic.
“Our team at Yeovil Hospital is also using a robot, and is working through colorectal, upper GI and gynaecology procedures – it’s very much a collaborative effort to ensure that we are offering access to the most advanced technologies for everyone across Somerset.
“We also held the first ever robotic symposium in the south west last month, where we hosted colleagues from across the region and the country, to talk about robotics now and in the future, and to see how we can advance the field for everyone.
“We want to ensure that the next generation of surgeons and theatre colleagues are trained up on robotic surgery, so we’ll be creating training programmes to develop our nursing colleagues to become surgical care practitioners, so they can assist with the robot.
“Thank you very much to the four charities from all of our surgeons and theatres colleagues for supporting us in this way.”