More robots are to be rolled out across the NHS after the success of pioneering technology in London.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is keen to promote technology to improve treatment and recovery times for patients undergoing keyhole and other surgery.
The £1.5 million Da Vinci surgical robot, one of two in use at Charing Cross Hospital, was put through its paces by Mr Barclay on a visit during which doctors showed him the benefits of the state-of-the-art equipment.
He remotely manipulated a banana and pound coin, emulating the training given to surgeons who operate the robots at the sprawling facility in Hammersmith, where bosses want funding for more of the expensive tools to operate on urological and throat cancers.
“What's very interesting is the fact that patient recovery from keyhole surgery is far quicker,” Mr Barclay said.
"Patients can be discharged a day after the robot-aided surgery, compared to a week’s recovery time following more invasive procedures.
“This is equipment that is great for patients, but also is better for the surgeons,” he said. “It gives them more flexibility in terms of how they operate, it's more comfortable to use, but it also gives them real precision in terms of their control.
“And we saw in the demonstration, just how precise the robotic surgery is, in the control it gives surgeons, so it's better for the surgical team. But above all, it's better for the patients.”
Figures showed a record 7.75 million patients were stuck on the waiting list for planned NHS treatment in England at the end of August – up more than 100,000 on July.
The lengthening lists threaten to imperil one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five signature pledges. The Government blames pay strikes by junior doctors and consultants for adding to the malaise.
Mr Barclay had to defend his stance on doctors’ pay and diversity in the NHS, after accusations that he is playing politics with the health service.
Top hospital doctors say they will not call any more strikes until November to allow time for talks, after Mr Barclay agreed to a meeting with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants’ committee.
But no date has been set yet, and the minister is adamant that only ancillary conditions and benefits will be up for discussion, not headline pay.
“I've been very clear throughout that my door is open to have further discussions, but the pay for this year is final. The Prime Minister and the Government have been very clear on that,” Mr Barclay said.
“Those discussions (for a meeting with the BMA) are ongoing. So we're in the process of finalising dates.”
A BMA spokesperson said that doctors of all grades were ready "to listen to any credible offer from Government, and we are expecting intensive negotiations”.
Pressure on care, and the politics of care, were on display on a staff computer in the ward room as Mr Barclay did his robot demonstration.
An on-screen message sought applications for hospital staff to become an “equality, diversity and inclusion facilitator”. Overlaying it were five pop-up messages warning of an “extreme capacity alert” for cardiology at the Hammersmith site.
Mr Barclay defended his order last week directing NHS managers to stop recruiting for jobs focused solely on promoting diversity and inclusion.
The directive was slammed by NHS Providers which said it would do nothing to fix “stark inequalities in healthcare”. The Royal College of Nursing said Mr Barclay was “playing politics and trying to create a false division”.
Pressed on data showing black mothers-to-be die at disproportionately high rates, and that black and Asian men go under-diagnosed for cancer and other illness compared to white peers, Mr Barclay said the money for diversity officers would be better spent on “frontline care”.
“I think diversity and inclusion is everyone's responsibility. It's not something to be outsourced to an individual team,” he said.
