We’ve carried out our largest number of gallbladder removals, 18, including 12 using surgical robots (above), during a ‘high volume’ day to help tackle our waiting list.

Our previous record was 12, however, on Saturday 27 September we beat that by 50% thanks to two operating theatres using robotic assisted surgery, where the surgeon sits at a console to control the robot, which uses small incisions, surgical instruments, and a camera.

Sandeep Kaul, one of the surgeons involved, said:

We’ve got a long waiting list of around 350 patients needing gallbladder surgery and our usual schedule just can’t keep up. To tackle this, we’ve been holding high volume surgery days to get more done in less time.

This was our fourth one and we used more robotic surgery, completing 12 robotic gallbladder operations in one day for the first time. This means less strain on us as surgeons and more precision, which is better for patients.

Sandeep and fellow surgeon Samrat Mukherjee carried out robotic surgeries (watch below) while colleague Haschmat Sarwary completed a further six laparoscopic (keyhole) surgeries.

During previous high volume days we had just one surgeon carrying out robotic assisted surgery.

Sandeep added:

Everyone, including admin, theatre, ward staff and anaesthetists were focused and coordinated. It takes a lot of planning to keep everything running smoothly to ensure the next patient is ready as soon as the previous one finishes, minimising downtime and increasing efficiency.

Reducing waiting times for gallbladder removals also provides better care to our patients, so they experience less bouts of inflammation and therefore fewer visits to A&E during flare-ups.