Portsmouth MP supports efforts to keep surgical robot at QA Hospital

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt said she will think of ways to help raise the cash needed to secure the Da Vinci robot for the Cosham site.

As previously reported in The News, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs QA, needs to raise £780,000 in the next 22 months to pay-off the hi-tech robot.

The Rocky Appeal has so far raised about £1.6m for the machinery, which has been loaned to QA by American company Intuitive Surgical Inc.

Ms Mordaunt said: ‘This is an excellent piece of equipment but I hope in future years it will not remain the exception but become the norm for NHS patients.

‘The Rocky Appeal did an amazing job to bring the robot to the QA and we must keep it here.

‘I’ll be thinking of what I can do to help raise funds and support their amazing work.’

The £2.4m Da Vinci robot is used for keyhole surgery on areas of the body which are hard to reach, such as the prostate, oesophagus and rectum.

With four arms and 360-degree manoeuvrability, the robot means patients have less scarring, less recovery time in hospital and more precise surgery.

Around 500 patients a year are treated using the robot including people suffering from cervical, womb, bowel and prostate cancer.

Ms Mordaunt added she was confident that the remaining money would be raised.

‘There has been a call to arms to raise more money from the appeal,’ she said.

‘But I am confident that the clinicians at the QA have a plan to ensure any money raised will be part of a long-term plan to retain and maintain this robot.’

To find out more about the appeal and how to donate, call Rocky Appeal co-ordinator Mick Lyons on (023) 9228 6487 or email [email protected].