NHS robots and scanners ‘must be used more intensively’

Expensive scanners and surgical robots are underused and “lying fallow” at NHS hospitals, a report has said.

Analysis shows a tenfold difference in how often NHS trusts use surgical robots — cutting-edge machines used for minimally invasive surgery that cost about £1.5 million each.

There are also huge regional variations in the use of CT and MRI scanners, which help to diagnose illnesses including cancer and cost about £1 million each.

Experts urged the NHS to ensure that each machine was used to the utmost to boost productivity and tackle hospital waiting lists of 7.4 million people.

The report also warned that hospitals are failing to make full use of surgical robots, which can blitz through waiting lists by speeding up recovery times. In 2022 Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust used its surgical robot less than once a week while other NHS hospitals used theirs nine times a week.

Jonathan Eida, a researcher at the TPA, said: “Our analysis of high-value machines in the NHS further adds to the body of evidence that the health service is not in a healthy state.

“It is absolutely absurd for such expensive equipment to lie fallow, particularly given the swollen waiting lists. If Labour wants to deliver the efficient and productive health service that taxpayers are paying for, maximising the use of these machines has to be a priority.”

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Source: The Times, 16 March 2025