The London Clinic is preparing the next phase of its pioneering remote robotic surgery programme following its UK-first series of tele-robotic prostate cancer procedures performed in partnership with St Bernard’s Hospital in Gibraltar.
Using a new robot, Toumai – manufactured by Micropart and compatible with remote surgery – urological surgeon and The London Clinic’s Robotic Centre lead, Professor Prokar Dasgupta, operated from London on patients based in Gibraltar, some 2,400 kilometres away.
The surgeon carried out a prostatectomy – a partial or complete removal of the prostate gland. The robot was linked to the Kusuma Robotic Surgery Suite at St Bernard’s via a secure, high-speed fibre optic line with built-in redundancy and a time lag of just 48 milliseconds, facilitated by global technology company, Presidio.
Three prostate cancer patients have now been successfully treated, all of whom are recovering well locally, Professor Dasgupta said.
“They went home on the second day after surgery,” he added. “Their catheters were removed locally in the hospital, and they can now be at home with their families. It’s what the patients in London experience, which was not available to these patients previously.”
Following the successful procedures, The London Clinic – which partnered with US academic healthcare provider Northwestern Medicine in 2024 – is now developing a multidisciplinary remote robotic programme including urology, gynaecology and bowel (colorectal) surgery, with a phased roll-out planned over the coming year.
Discussions are already under way to extend the service to patients in other UK overseas territories, according to Professor Dasgupta.
“There are discussions going on with Jersey, and I think eventually it will extend to other British territories,” he said, adding the government has shown interest in rolling out remote procedures it into “a national programme.”
The surgeon also highlighted plans to use the system to train colleagues at centres that currently lack access to advanced robotic platforms.
