Historic live Gibraltar telesurgery showcased at Europe’s leading urology congress

The Minister for Health and Care, Gemma Arias Vasquez, has welcomed the international recognition received following Gibraltar’s live telesurgery programme, which featured during a special plenary session at the 41st Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology.

The annual congress is Europe’s biggest urological event, bringing together around 20,000 delegates and showcasing the latest scientific developments and educational advances in the field.

Gibraltar’s live telesurgery case was selected for a special plenary session in recognition of both the significance of the procedure and the impact remote robotic surgery is expected to have on the future of urological practice internationally.

The live surgery formed part of a major session within the congress because of the importance attached to telesurgery within the profession and is already being recognised internationally as a milestone in surgical history.

The operation was carried out through the Gibraltar Health Authority’s robotic surgery programme at St Bernard’s Hospital and involved collaboration between Dr James Allan and his team and Professor Prokar Dasgupta, who leads The London Clinic’s Robotic Centre of Excellence.

The robotic surgical system used for the programme was funded in part through donations from Kusuma Trust and Prostate Cancer Gibraltar, and was also supported by Microport and Presidio.

Professor Dasgupta said: ““This gives us the opportunity to treat patients in remote areas and smaller communities by literally being able to take the best surgeon anywhere. I think it is going to be very, very exciting. The humanitarian benefit could be significant.”

Professor Sebastien Ourselin, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences at King’s College London, said: ““We are proud of Prokar’s long-standing commitment to driving surgical innovations using the latest medical technologies to break down barriers to treatment and improve the quality of care we provide to patients across the globe.”

Al Russell, chief executive at The London Clinic, said: “The London Clinic is proud to be part of medical history and we have a strong reputation for medical firsts. Congratulations to Professor Dasgupta and the Gibraltar Health Authority, and Dr Allan and his team at St Bernard’s. We hope more patients will be able to benefit from this incredible medical breakthrough.”

The Government said the surgical programme now places Gibraltar and the GHA among the leading centres internationally in the delivery of telesurgery and further strengthens Gibraltar’s position as a platform for future innovation in robotic medicine and medical artificial intelligence.

The international response has also been reflected in the level of media exposure generated by the operation, with estimated global reach now exceeding 100 million people.

Further recognition has followed, with the Gibraltar team invited to present the milestone during a plenary session at the 2026 annual meeting of the Society of Robotic Surgery in Florida.

Ms Arias Vasquez said: “This is a genuinely remarkable development, both for Gibraltar and for what it says about the level of clinical ambition and innovation that our health service is capable of supporting."

"To see work undertaken here presented live at one of the most important urological congresses in the world is significant in itself, but more importantly it demonstrates how Gibraltar can contribute meaningfully to medical advances with real global relevance."

"I am extremely grateful to Dr Thomson, Dr Allan, Professor Dasgupta, the wider GHA team, our international partners, and also to Kusuma Trust and Prostate Cancer Gibraltar, whose support has helped make this level of innovation possible in Gibraltar.”