Cancer surgeon takes on 'robot' medics mentor role
Raj Singh with one of the surgical "robots" at Bradford Royal Infirmary
- Published
A Bradford-based cancer surgeon is to teach medics how to perform operations using state-of-the-art robotics.
Raj Singh, a uro-oncology specialist for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has become a mentor, training future surgeons how to use robotic-assisted surgical systems pioneered at Bradford Royal Infirmary in 2012.
The city had since become one of the busiest robotic-assisted urological centres in the north of England, with surgeons there having conducted nearly 3,000 surgical procedures, according to the trust.
Mr Singh said it was "quite an honour to be asked" to become a mentor with the task of training and "upskilling" colleagues.
“My ultimate dream is to create a Bradford robotic-assisted surgery centre which is multi-specialty and world class," he said.
"We have the expertise, so this is definitely achievable. There is no doubt about it, the future of all surgery is robotics.”
'Working hard'
Mr Singh began his medical training in Jamaica before forging a 40-year career in the UK and in his native Trinidad.
He re-joined Bradford Teaching Hospitals as a consultant urologist in 2012, when he took on the task of robotic-assisted surgery.
Mr Singh himself has carried out more than 1,000 surgeries using the robotic systems.
The trust now has two robotic-assisted surgical systems.
The original 2012 device was upgraded with the most up-to-date £1.7m system in April 2022, before the second was installed in January 2023.
At the same time, the trust took delivery of what is known as a "dual console", which enables the training of new surgeons.
Mr Singh said: “At Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we have a team of 15 robotics-trained surgeons.
"We are working hard to get back to the levels of robotic-assisted surgery that we were carrying out prior to the pandemic and we are almost there."
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here, external.