ROBOTIC surgery at the Alexandra Hospital is moving one step closer next month when work to install the hi-tech machinery begins.

As part of the Rory the Robot Appeal, led by local businessman Ian Jukes, residents and businesses raised around £500,000 in aid of robotic surgery at the Alex.

The trust is also investing £3.6 million to get the new service up and running.

It has now been confirmed that the main work to install the robot at the Alex will start at the beginning of July.

The first procedure to be offered by the new service will be robot-assisted prostate surgery for men with prostate cancer.

MP for Redditch, Rachel Maclean said: “The dream of state-of-the-art robot-assisted surgery at the Alex is finally becoming reality.

“By the end of the year, the first procedure to be offered by the new service will be robot-assisted prostate surgery for men with prostate cancer. This will be a game-changer for prostate cancer patients by providing better outcomes, less pain, shorter stays in hospital and quicker recovery times.”

Surgeon Mr Terng Chen, the trust’s clinical service lead for Urology said: “We have been working for several years to bring robot-assisted surgery for prostate cancer patients to Worcestershire.

“For those patients who are able to have it, Robotic-assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RARP) can offer equivalent or better outcomes, less pain, shorter stays in hospital and quicker recovery for patients with prostate cancer, which is the most common form of cancer in men.

“Currently, any prostate cancer patient from Worcestershire who wants this type of surgery as part of their treatment has to travel out of the county for it.

“That means around 80 patients a year having to travel away from Worcestershire for their operation.”

Worcestershire Acute NHS Trust is recruiting two consultant urologists needed for the surgery.