The massive donation from the bet365 boss’s charity follows on from a £29 million pledge
The Denise Coates Foundation has donated £12m towards robotic surgery capabilities at the Royal Stoke University Hospital(Image: UHNM)
Bet365 chief executive Denise Coates’ charity has made a massive £12 million donation to make Stoke the Royal Stoke University Hospital the UK’s largest robotic surgery centre.
The news comes as the Royal Stoke has passed a major milestone in advanced surgery with the completion of more than 5,000 robotic-assisted procedures. As a result, the Hartshill hospital has been able to reduce average patient length of stay by two days, saving around 3,000 bed days each year.
Now a donation from the Denise Coates Foundation will help the Royal Stoke significantly expand its programme with a wider range of complex procedures, including emergency and cardiac surgery. This is expected to benefit more than 1,000 additional patients each year and increasing the number of bed days saved to at least 5,000 annually.
Businesswoman Denise said: “We are delighted to have supported Royal Stoke University Hospital on its journey to reaching 5,000 robotic surgery patients, and to help enable the next phase of expansion. This investment will allow more patients across the region to benefit from world-leading surgical care closer to home. Supporting projects that make a lasting difference to local communities remains a core focus of the Foundation.”
Denise Coates(Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
As part of the next phase, Royal Stoke will become the first hospital in the UK to introduce the latest da Vinci 5 Surgical Systems for both adult and paediatric patients. It use Force Feedback technology, allowing surgeons to feel tissue resistance in real time, improving control, reducing unnecessary force and supporting safer, more precise surgery.
Total robotic capacity will increase to six systems, establishing Royal Stoke as the UK’s largest robotic surgery centre and taking it a step closer to becoming a Robotics Centre of Excellence.
Philip Varghese, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, said: “Reaching our 5,000th robotic surgery patient is an incredible milestone for our teams, and this expansion significantly strengthens our ability to deliver robotic surgery across a wider range of complex procedures.
“Access to a versatile, multi-procedure robot will enable minimally invasive emergency and cardiac surgery, improving outcomes, reducing recovery times and avoiding the need for more invasive open procedures.”
The additional £12 million charitable donation from the Denise Coates Foundation builds on earlier philanthropic investment in robotic surgery and healthcare innovation at Royal Stoke, taking total donations to £29 million.
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