The UK’s leading industry association for health technology, the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), has launched a white paper, Robotic Assisted-Surgery and New Models of Surgical Care, which sets out the case for a national multi-stakeholder strategy for Robotic Assisted Surgery to support its uptake across the NHS.
There are significant benefits to be had in using Robotic Assisted Surgery, with less time for patients spent in hospital and quicker recovery periods, which in turn supports a more efficient healthcare system. Consequently, Robotic Assisted Surgery should be viewed strategically, and given key consideration when looking at future surgical care configuration and patient pathway design. However, the opportunities that Robotic Assisted Surgery adoption presents will only be delivered safely, effectively and efficiently through collaboration across industry, the NHS, Government, and patients.
The document recognises the common themes and challenges across the environment for healthcare providers, clinicians and the industry, in supporting the adoption of Robotic Assisted Surgery, and makes a series of recommendations across the key areas of regulation, policy, evidence, awareness and training.
The work has been spearheaded by ABHI’s Robotic Assisted Surgery Group, which sits within the Association. ABHI's member groups set the strategic direction of the HealthTech industry and are member-led networks that provide expertise, guidance and the sharing for best practice. ABHI Robotic Assisted Surgery brings together HealthTech companies, the clinical community and other relevant organisations who have a strong interest in furthering the development of surgical robotic systems and their use in surgery.
Andrew Davies, Digital Health Lead, ABHI said: “The benefits of Robotic-Assisted Surgery are well rehearsed, but collaboration will be key to realising them, and through the ABHI group we will be using the paper as an engagement tool to inform future work and partnering opportunities.”
