To improve its service to the community, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has invested £1 million in a state-of-the-art robotic hybrid operating theatre, the first of its kind in the region.
Hybrid theatres combine the environment of an operating theatre with the imaging capabilities and allows for not only routine surgical procedures, but also combined catheter‐ based interventions and open surgery under a single anaesthetic.
Chief Executive Diane Wake said: “We are very proud to be opening such a fantastic new facility here in Dudley and know that it will make such a difference to our patients of the Black Country population.
“We pride ourselves on being innovative and forward thinking; and this hybrid theatre will allow us to meet our strategic goal of delivering the high-quality vascular services every time.”
Among the many advantages to this forward-thinking project is the capacity to treat a patient with one solution rather than having them return for repeated interventions. In addition, the Trust now has the ability to avoid some of the open operations through using anti-vascular techniques.
Mr Atiq-ur Rehman, deputy chief of surgery said, “The robotic hybrid operating theatre will provide a better experience and best quality service for our patients, and a safer, more streamlined pathway for their treatment.
“It will also enable vascular specialists to carry out less invasive surgery which would traditionally have required a much bigger open operation. Thanks to the state-of-the-art facility, this will improve patients’ outcomes and reduce their length of stay in the hospital.”
The combination of imaging capabilities ensures that the surgeries are far more accurate than other methods, using lower dosages of radiation and providing clearer images. There is also a lower risk of infection in hybrid surgeries.
The theatre is now complete, with extensive staff training and simulation underway before the vascular and radiology teams welcome their first patients this month.
Russells Hall Hospital is the Specialist Vascular Centre for the Black Country, covering Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
