ROYAL Surrey County Hospital welcomed MP Anne Milton to open its new state-of-the-art emergency operating theatre.

The Member of Parliament for Guildford cut the ribbon to officially launch the cutting-edge trauma facility at the beginning of the month.

Its introduction will allow the Royal Surrey to carry out more robotic work within two of its existing 13 operating theatres.

This comes after the hospital invested in two pioneering da Vinci Si robots, which allow the surgical teams to perform complex procedures, with increase precision while using a minimal invasive approach.

As a result patients benefit from shorter stays in hospital, faster recovery and less discomfort after surgery.

As well as creating the new theatre the project also included extending the current recovery area and revamping the existing staff changing facilities.

The hospital trust’s chairman John Denning said: “It is vitally important that we keep investing and improving our facilities for the benefit of our patients.

“More than 320 people have already been treated in the new theatre since it came into operation last month.

“It will also assist with the increasing demand for pelvic and urological cancer surgery, as we can now carry this out in two adjacent theatres, fully equipped with robots, which do not have to move.

“The trust has recently been recognised as an Epicentre for training in robotic surgery and this will further enhance our opportunities to develop up and coming surgeons.”

Anne Milton added: “It is always a pleasure to visit the Royal Surrey and in particular, to open a new operating theatre.

“The staff are utterly committed to providing the very best care and for them to have the very best facilities makes their job easier, safer and gives them the new equipment and training opportunities they need.  

“My thanks to the staff for the care they give to my constituents in what I know are challenging times.”