Hospital to be UK's Largest Robotic Surgery Centre
Monday, 2026/02/09162 words3 minutes698 reads
Royal Stoke University Hospital is set to become the UK's largest robotic surgery centre after receiving a £12 million donation from the Denise Coates Foundation. The investment will significantly expand access to advanced robotic surgery for patients across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.
The expansion is expected to benefit more than 1,000 patients annually and will support a range of complex procedures, including emergency and heart surgery. The hospital will also be the first in the UK to introduce new technology that allows surgeons to feel tissue resistance in real time during operations.
Robotic surgery at Royal Stoke has already shown impressive results, with a 20% increase in surgical productivity and patients staying in hospital an average of two days less per case. This saves approximately 3,000 bed days per year, with the latest expansion expected to increase this to at least 5,000 bed days annually. The NHS projects that by 2035, 500,000 operations will be supported by robotic technology every year across England.
