HSE UL Hospitals Group now using 360-degree live-streaming of robotic surgery

On Saturday, 25 November, over 100 consultant urologists, colorectal surgeons, senior registrars, gynaecologists and health professionals from around the country attended the annual South West Urological Meeting at the CERC, UHL, where an inaugural live stream of a robotic surgical procedure took place.

The surgery was carried out by renowned Consultant Urological Surgeon and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Guy’s Hospital and King’s College London, Mr Ben Challacombe, who was invited by the UHL robotic team to perform this surgery with them. “It is a great honour to come to UHL and to demonstrate complex robotic kidney surgery using the new live-streaming technology. I would like to thank the team at UHL for inviting me. The teamwork and professionalism of the whole surgical team here in Limerick is second to none,” commented Mr Challacombe.

In November 2016, UHL became the first public hospital in Ireland to perform colorectal, kidney and adrenal surgical procedures using the Da Vinci Xi Dual Console Robot. One year on, over 110 colorectal, adrenal, kidney and other urological cases have been performed.

Data from UL Hospitals Group demonstrates that post-operative recovery is twice as fast with robotic surgery than with standard keyhole surgery, with an average postoperative hospital stay of approximately four days. There is also minimal blood loss and a reduction in postoperative pain with robotic surgery.

Valued at approximately €2.6 million, the Da Vinci Xi robot and equipment were donated by the Midwestern Hospitals Development Trust and funded with the support of the JP McManus Benevolent Fund.

The CERC development is a partnership project between UL Hospitals Group and the University of Limerick and is co-funded by both the HSE and UL, with an overall project cost of circa €12.75 million. The CERC accommodates and supports the comprehensive educational, training and research needs of both the UL Graduate Entry Medical School and the UL Hospitals Group medical community across all disciplines.