The Trust held a very special event to officially welcome its newest member of staff – a surgical robot called da Vinci. Unsurprisingly, da Vinci was the star of the show, even cutting its own official opening ribbon!
Da Vinci’s arrival was celebrated by Trust staff, Sir Robert Worcester – founder of MORI, Jacques Arnold – Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and representatives from the British Association of Urological Surgeons.
Da Vinci is a minimally invasive surgery tool which revolutionises the care provided to patients undergoing surgery of the prostate. Under the control of a highly-trained surgeon, Da Vinci is to able perform complex and incredibly precise procedures.
Professor Matin Sheriff, Consultant Urological Surgeon at Medway NHS Foundation Trust explains: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome da Vinci to the team; thanks to this incredible technology we are able to perform operations in a way not possible with human hands. This means we can use very small incisions rather than open surgery.
“This is fantastic for our patients because it means they experience less pain, go home sooner and have less chance of experiencing a complication, such as a postoperative infection.”
Da Vinci has been in use at the Trust since July and more than 40 patients have already had prostate surgery using this state-of-the-art technology.
One such patient is Barry Tulett, (69) from Chatham who underwent a prostatectomy five weeks ago. Mr Tulett said: “We were in complete shock when I found out I had prostate cancer but the care I’ve had at Medway has been brilliant.
“Professor Sheriff explained my options and I was happy to go ahead with the operation using the robot, or ‘Robbie’ as I call it now. I’ve been amazed at the speed of my recovery. When I woke up after the operation I didn’t even know I’d had it. I was able to leave hospital the very next day and my scars are very small. It has been about as good an experience as it could be, considering I was having major surgery for cancer.
“One thing I will say is, please ask your GP for a PSA test. It’s just a simple blood test that could save your life”.
Lesley Dwyer, Chief Executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust explains: “At Medway we are absolutely committed to providing the very best of care to our patients -ensuring that patients have a good experience when they come to us for their care. This means all of our staff – whether human or robot – working together to provide high-quality, safe patient care. We want to use the very latest technology to achieve this, and da Vinci is a perfect example of how we are embracing innovation for the good of our patients.”
Medway is the hub of the West Kent Urology Cancer Centre, and the introduction of this innovative equipment means that prostate cancer patients across the whole region will benefit; plans for the future also include expanding the range of procedures carried out by da Vinci.