Preparing the published article.
Preparing the Theatre Schedule for a Surgical Robot
A readiness checklist for biomedical engineering and theatre teams before a surgical robot is added to the operating list.
Room, Power and Data Checks Before the First Case Is Listed
A surgical robot changes the theatre before it changes the operation. Before the first case is listed, walk the room with the theatre manager and record four things for each planned configuration: the footprint of the cart or arm base in its stowed and deployed positions, the clearance staff need to move around it, the route the device takes from storage to the table, and the door widths and lift dimensions along that route. Photograph the final layout and keep the photographs with the room record, because the layout that works on a quiet afternoon is often not the layout that survives a full list.
Treat power and data as clinical items, not facilities items. Confirm from the manufacturer's instructions for use which supply arrangement the device requires, whether an uninterruptible supply is specified and for which subsystems, and what the device does during a supply interruption. Ask estates to confirm that the theatre's electrical installation supports the arrangement and that protective measures are documented. Record the socket positions actually used, not the ones drawn on the plan.
Answer the data questions before the device is connected: does it store images or case data locally, does it transmit anything outside the hospital, which network segment is permitted, and who may export data? Obtain the answers in writing from the manufacturer and from the hospital's information security contact, and file them with the room record. An unplanned network connection is a change to the hospital's risk picture.
Equipment Lifecycle, Consumables and Instrument Traceability
List every item that touches the patient or the sterile field and mark it single-use, reusable or device-attached. For each one, note where it is stored, the minimum stock level, how it is restocked, and how the department would complete a list if it ran out. Then check the same list against the manufacturer's instructions for use for reprocessing limits and storage conditions. Two lists should exist: what the department believes, and what the manufacturer documents.
Traceability is where the robot meets the hospital's existing instrument tracking. Decide and write down the unique identifier recorded in each case record for the device, its instruments and its consumables; whether the device's own case log is sufficient or whether the hospital system must also hold the entry; who reconciles the two records and how often; how a field safety notice would be matched to the patients treated with the affected item; and how long records are retained and where they live after the contract ends. If a field safety notice arrived tomorrow, the department should be able to produce the affected case list from its own records without contacting the manufacturer.
Add consumable lead time to the scheduling conversation. Theatre scheduling and stock ordering run on different clocks, and a device that needs a specific single-use item per case can halt a list when the item is unavailable. Ask procurement what lead time has been observed for comparable items, and agree a reorder trigger that does not depend on the list being published.
Sign-Off, Contingency and the Theatre Readiness Record
Define a readiness record and decline to list a case until it is complete. Reasonable contents are a room layout drawing and photographs, electrical and network confirmations, the device's maintenance and calibration status according to the manufacturer's instructions for use, the names of staff who completed device training with dates, the consumable stock position, and the named person who signs the room as ready.
Write the contingency plan in the same document. It should answer what happens if the device fails mid-case, which alternative instruments or approach are available in the room, who decides to convert, how the device is taken out of service and made safe, and whom to call inside and outside working hours. Rehearse the plan once with the full team and minute what changed as a result of the rehearsal.
Review the readiness record at fixed intervals and after every unplanned event. The review question is not whether the room is still compliant on paper, but whether the record matches the room as it is used today. Update the layout photographs when equipment moves, and re-issue the record with a date, so a reader can always tell which version described the theatre at the time of a given case.
Photo credits: the images in this article are licensed reference photographs of the relevant robot class, credited with author and licence in each caption; they are not photographs of the specific equipment discussed. Licence and author details are recorded with each image.