AQW 20010/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 06/01/2025
Answered On Date: 28/01/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether robotic-assisted surgery will be permitted to treat endometriosis.

Answer:

Robotic-assisted surgery is a surgical model of care which is being adopted by many surgical specialities and was introduced into Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in 2018 within the specialty of Urology.

Other surgical specialties, including Gynaecology, are now in a similar position to Urology in considering utilising Robotic-assisted surgery. This could include robotic-assisted surgery for endometriosis if there was sufficient resource to support this.

Under the remit of the General Surgery Network, initial discussions and preparation work has commenced to consider the development of a regional phased plan for Robotic-assisted surgery within Northern Ireland. However, significant capital investment, in addition to workforce training, would be required to further develop Robotic-assisted surgery across specialisms within Northern Ireland.