Health secretary praises world leading robotic innovation at Royal Brompton as “future of the NHS”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described world-leading robotic lung surgery at Royal Brompton, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, as “amazing” and “what the future of the NHS looks like.”

Mr Streeting was speaking during a visit to Royal Brompton’s Diagnostic Centre, where he was shown the robotic Ion Endoluminal System (Ion) from technology company Intuitive, that allows clinicians to reach nodules in the lung in much smaller, hard-to-access areas than was previously possible.

Using a tiny catheter manoeuvred by the robot, clinicians such as Royal Brompton consultant respiratory physician Professor Pallav Shah can biopsy and even ablate (destroy) nodules suspected of being cancerous.

This minimally invasive approach reduces the risk for patients compared to existing techniques where a needle would be inserted from outside the body into the lungs, making it both a safer, and faster, way to provide care.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK with around 49,000 people diagnosed every year, and over half of cases identified at a late stage of the disease.

Typically, due to challenges in securing effective biopsies for small nodules, some patients with suspected lung cancer may undergo long periods of ‘watchful waiting’ where their nodule is monitored but not definitively diagnosed.

Patient Mark Dunham spoke with the minister just before undergoing a procedure on his lungs using the new robot.

Mr Dunham said: “I was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. I’ve never smoked, but it’s lung cancer. I’ve had a lung removed – my upper left lobe – followed by chemo for six months to treat any rogue cells, but it has come back.

“I’m very happy to be receiving this. The alternatives would have been either surgery or chemotherapy. This provides me with a much less intrusive alternative. I will find out quite soon whether this treatment has worked and, if it hasn’t, it’s not that intrusive; they can go back and give it another go.”

Mr Dunham’s robotic procedure went very well and he is now awaiting a further check up in a month’s time.