Background: The distribution, utilisation and accessibility of surgical robotics in England is unknown.
Methods: A nationwide Freedom of Information (FOI) request was sent to all acute National Health Service (NHS) trusts. Accessibility was assessed for 32 843 Lower Super Output Areas in England.
Results: All 149 acute NHS trusts responded to the FOI request. Sixty-one robots are distributed between 48 trusts. The number of robots and robotic procedures has increased annually. Urological procedures comprise 84.2% of robotic procedures. Procedure volume varies between robotic centres ranging from 1 to 683 in 2018. Over 2.4 million people have a travel time of over 1 hour to their nearest robotic centre.
Discussion: National accessibility to robotic services and case volumes are variable and does not represent good value for the NHS. A national robotic surgery registry could improve the quality of robotic surgery and is needed to dynamically assess national provision of this technology.
Keywords: accessibility; distribution; surgical robotics; utility.
© 2020 The Authors. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.