But that was not specifically why we were here. It was, instead, because the patient was about to become the first in the UK to have the surgery using a robotic-assisted technology.

Called Force Feedback, it is attached to the da Vinci 5 robotic system, allowing the surgeon for the first time to feel the pressure they are exerting as they push and pull on the patient’s tissue inside their body.

Early results from the US show it’s making surgery more gentle and recovery time faster — and it’s even improving the time the patient is in the operating theatre.