Glasgow children's hospital begins robot-assisted surgeries in world first

Published5 November 2026

A hospital in Glasgow has become the first in the world to have a surgical robot dedicated exclusively to helping children.

The Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow is to use the Versius Plus robot for paediatric surgery, after receiving a £1.5m donation from a charitable trust.

The robot can provide greater access during keyhole surgery and will help with operations for complex cancer, urology, abdominal, thoracic and gastrointestinal conditions.

Doctors at the hospital said the robot can provide enhanced precision while reducing pain, minimising scarring, and getting patients back to their everyday lives quicker.

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The Coldstones Charitable Trust pledged more than £1.5m to Hi Scotland, the innovation arm of the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, to fund the paediatric robotic surgery programme.

The first case of a child in the UK undergoing surgery with Versius occurred in 2024, after several surgeries with adults.

Michael Jacovides, a consultant paediatric surgeon and the clinical lead for the robotic surgery programme, said: "Robotic assisted surgery will increasingly be part of caring for children in the future and I am excited it is already here for the children of Glasgow.

"We are developing our service to cover more conditions, and to offer it to more children and babies across Scotland.

"We owe the presence of the robot to our charity and our sponsor. We are proud to have established Glasgow as a leader in this field, and we are working with partners nationally and internationally so these technologies become more widely used."

An evaluation phase was carried out which saw surgeons perform more than 30 procedures with the robot.

Although the system is available to some paediatric patients elsewhere through shared systems or facilities in larger adult hospitals, Glasgow is believed to be the first dedicated children's hospital in the world to purchase and own the system solely for paediatric patients.

Kirsten Watson, chief executive of Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, said: "This extraordinary donation from the Coldstones Charitable Trust is enabling something genuinely pioneering for children's healthcare.

"By funding the purchase of the Versius Plus system, they are helping establish a world-first dedicated paediatric programme based around this technology."

The Coldstones Charitable Trust aims to provide financial support to different charitable organisations.

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Surgery

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Glasgow

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