A cancer patient from Darlington has become the trust's first patient to have his prostate surgery and go home the same day.
Douglas Sweeney, 67, had his procedure and was discharged just a few hours later after surgeons pioneered the first robotic day case prostatectomy at The James Cook University Hospital.
Robotic prostatectomy is a minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery that helps remove the prostate and treat prostate cancer – providing an effective mode of treatment for patients with very low complications.
Prior to this, patients usually spent one or two nights at the hospital after their prostatectomy surgery.
Douglas said: “The whole process of being told you need an operation for cancer and to coming in to have a surgery is stressful.
I feel privileged to have been looked after by a professional team who put me at ease. I would like to thank all those involved for a wonderful experience.”
Consultant urologist Arvind Nayak said: “With the help of our prostate cancer specialist nurses, SAU (surgical assessment unit) staff, urology SCPs (surgical care practitioners) and anaesthetic support, we have developed a pathway to offer day case prostatectomy wherein a patient can be discharged home the same day and recover in the comfort of their home without compromising on patient safety.
I am happy to see that our first patient had a positive experience and has recovered well. This pathway allows us to offer cancer treatment for selected patients even when the hospital is pressed for inpatient beds."
The advanced robotic surgery was a result of collective and coordinated efforts between urology, anaesthesia and SAU teams at James Cook.
Anaesthetic nurses Ellie Williamson and Demi Milburn, specialty anaesthetic registrar Amy Ginn and consultants Reema Ayyash and Leanne Wakes were part of the anaesthetic unit that supported the wider team with the surgery.
Reema added: “A fantastic achievement for all teams involved. This case was a realisation of the concept of improving patient care and experience.
“Working collaboratively with pre-assessment, the surgical team, surgical day unit and the patient allowed us to make this an overarching success.”
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