Greenham Common Trust gives £50,000 to hospital appeal

The charitable trust has awarded funds to the ‘Robbie the Robot’ appeal

GREENHAM Common Trust has given the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) £50,000 to help keep life saving robotic assisted surgical equipment available for local residents.

The new, state-of-the-art robot, dubbed ‘Robbie the Robot', is currently being used for prostate cancer operations and its use is planned to extend into surgery for gynaecology and bowel cancer at the Reading hospital.

The benefits of the new surgery include reduced trauma to the body, reduced blood loss and wound infection, shorter recovery times and reduced incidents of incontinence and impotence.

The total cost for the new equipment is £1.2m and £590,000 has already been raised so far.

Chairman of the West Berkshire Community Hospital League of Friends, Gerald Picton, said that they actively funded the robot because it would benefit local people.

He said: “The league has experienced first hand the consequences of funding shortages within the NHS, a situation which is not going to improve; in fact the shortages are going to get considerably worse.

“Because of generous support from the public and organisations like Greenham Common Trust, the league has been able to maintain a first class medical service in West Berkshire.

“The presence of Robbie the Robot at the RBH will maintain the standard of healthcare in West Berkshire as amongst the best in the country”.

Consultant Urologist at the RBH, Adam Jones, who is one of the surgeons using Robbie, said: "We still have quite a way to go with our fundraising, but this is a fantastic boost".